What a week of tennis we just had! Once again, many congratulations to our NCAA women’s champions Wesleyan, Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico, and Cat Allen/Caroline Cox, as well as the NCAA men’s champions Emory, Jonathan Jemison, and Grant Urken/Jerry Jiang. In our last POTW for the year, we dispense props to the standout players from the standout teams who made big moves in high pressure situations when their personal and team glory was on the line. Congrats players of the week!
D3ASW
Player: Christina Watson
Team: Emory
Results: 2-0 at #3 doubles, 1-0 at #6 singles
Recap: Watson has been a fixture at #3 doubles this year, but only saw singles action in low stakes matches up to this week. In Emory’s semifinal match against Wesleyan, she was asked to step in at #6 singles, where she earned a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory to keep her team’s hopes alive. Although her team eventually lost 4-5, she deserves credit for earning 2 of those points.
What’s next: Summer break, probably some offseason training but hopefully some rest and recuperation first
Honorable Mention: Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico (Emory, National Singles Champion), D3 sportsmanship
Describe NCAA’s this year in 5 words or less: Kalamazoo did a great job!
Favorite blogger moment of the year: This is a tie between blogger brunch with D3WW and D3WAnalyst and the drive home from blogger brunch when I ate my leftovers in the car.
Go-to order at Starbucks (or related beverage chain): Grande blonde roast with room for 2% milk.
D3NEW
Player: Polina Kiseleva / Alexis Almy
Team: Wesleyan
Results: Kiseleva went 2-0 at #4 singles and 3-0 at #2 dubs, and Almy went 3-0 at #5 and 2-1 at #3 dubs.
Recap: We have our to clinch queens sharing the crown after a tremendous week for Wesleyan tennis up at the Zoo. Almy showed her composure and clinched not once, but twice last week against both MIT and the 5-4 thriller over Emory to send the Cards into the finals – not an easy feat for a freshman. In the finals against CMS, Almy, again, won her match in what the bloggers thought would be a tightly contested match with Cox. But the finals is where Kiseleva gained her glory by staying tough and absolutely ripping forehand winners in the third after dropping a tough second set to CMS’ Sydney Lee. The young Card clinched the match and the natty ‘ship for the first time in program history and the NE glory lives on!!!!!!!
What’s next: Summer vacation!! Wooooo!!!
Honorable Mention: The whole Wes team, Katy Hughes (Midd), Christina Puccinelli (Midd), Viktoriya Tabunschchyk (MIT)
Describe NCAA’s this year in 5 words or less: Livestream is the true MVP
Favorite blogger moment of the year: Analyst dropping her first article and absolutely knocking the socks off of anyone and everyone who reads/knows about the Blog.
Go-to order at Starbucks (or related beverage chain): Chai with almond milk, I’m a basic betch
D3CentralW
Player: Lauren O’Malley!!!
Team: John Carroll
Results: O’Malley defeats Ranta-aho (CNU) and Cardone (Southwestern) to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA singles tournament.
Recap: Senior Lauren O’Malley caps off a successful collegiate tennis career by reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Tournament. She makes history as the first player in conference history to record 100 wins as well as the first player in conference history to make the quarterfinals of the national singles tournament.
What’s next: Probably some rest and reflection. Lots to be proud of!!!
Honorable Mention: All Americans Gabi Kitchell (UWW), Madeleine Paolucci (CWRU), Marjorie Antohi (Chicago), Oku/Sweeney (Kenyon), Alsup/Hawley (Denison)
Describe NCAA’s this year in 5 words or less: Thanks for the memories Kalamazoo!
Favorite blogger moment of the year: When Analyst joined our group as a blogger!
Go-to order at Starbucks (or related beverage chain): If I’m in a hurry, a tall dark roast drip coffee. If I have time, a tall cappuccino.
PS: Sadly, I will be retiring as a blogger. It’s been a great experience, and I am so so glad to see the women’s side of the blogging team take off this year. I will be staying on as a Tweeter, but if you are interested in coming on as a writer (particularly for the Central region, but any region would be wonderful), please get in touch!!!
D3WestW
Player: Sarah Bahsoun
Team: CMS
Results: 1-0 (almost 2-0) at #6 singles, 5-2 in doubles
Recap: Bahsoun was a rock at the bottom of the lineup for the Athenas, picking up a big singles win vs. Wesleyan and controlling her match against Midd. More impressively, she partnered with Nicole Tan in doubles and squeaked into individuals as alternates before making a run to the final, where they fell in 3 sets to teammates and top seed Cox/Allen.
What’s next: The offseason. Probably some time back home, maybe vacation, and the occasional internship where you hope for an isolated workspace so you can get paid to watch Wimbledon
Honorable Mention: Catherine Allen (CMS), Caroline Casper (Pomona-Pitzer)
Describe NCAA’s this year in 5 words or less: No Eudice? No problem!
Favorite blogger moment of the year: Dogs of D3, 100%
Go-to order at Starbucks (or related beverage chain): I once went to Starbucks right after a match and tried to order a Gatorade. Not kidding. The barista must have thought I was from Mars.
D3Analyst
Player: Venia Yeung
Team: Wesleyan
Results: 3-0 in at #2 doubles and 2-1 at #2 singles, runner-up in NCAA singles tournament
Recap: Yeung played a huge part in helping Wesleyan win their first NCAA title. She and her partner Polina Kiseleva went undefeated in doubles at Kalamazoo. In singles, Yeung fell in Wesleyan’s first match against MIT, but bounced back with wins over Emory and CMS. And then won four straight matches in the individual tournament, no big deal. Yeung capped off a great freshman campaign with an incredible showing at Kzoo and I’m looking forward to having her in DIII tennis for three more years.
What’s next: Summer break! I wouldn’t be surprised if Yeung spends some hours on the court this summer but hopefully she gets some well-deserved downtime too
Honorable Mention: Polina Kiseleva because that was an incredible match she pulled out against CMS (and she also had a terrific NCAAs overall)
Describe NCAA’s this year in 5 words or less: Wow
Favorite blogger moment of the year: Blogger brunch was pretty great. Next time we have to get 100% attendance at blogger brunch though.
Go-to order at Starbucks (or related beverage chain): Hot chocolate because chocolatey goodness > coffee.
PLEASE join me in thanking D3CentralW for her many years of phenomenal blogging, both this year as the Central women’s blogger and her previous years as the Northeast women’s blogger. She has been the major driving force behind the women’s side of the blog for so many years now, and while we understand that life sometime gets in the way of blogging, we are SO sad to see her go. She will continue to stay active on Twitter with her tweet-length reactions to all things D3 women’s tennis, as well as her ever-useful list of matches/scores being played on any particular day. Since her watch has ended, please let us know if you want to take over as Central writer!
Your Women’s Blogging Team