Bryn Mawr, Pa. - With the weather getting more and more perfect by the day, the Owls tennis team continued to follow suit earlier Monday afternoon. Bryn Mawr picked up their first win of the season with a victory over visiting Albright College, and did so in overwhelming fashion. The Owls took an 8-1 decision over the Lions, dropping just one match on the day.
The doubles teams got Bryn Mawr (1-4, 0-3 Cent.) off to a flying start early in the contest. The squad made a clean sweep of the pairs matches, taking all three in solid performances. The first doubles squad of Melina Koukoutchos and Kendall Baller took their match by a score of 8-5. In second doubles, Alex Acaba and Lizzie Siegle coasted to an 8-0 shutout over their shell-shocked opponents. The third doubles team of Eram Haider and Tirsa Delate played in the most closely-contested of the three doubles matches, but managed to hold on in the end for a thrilling 8-6 win.
The Owls were able to ride that momentum into the singles matches as well, as Albright (5-4, 0-1 MAC) had few answers for the Bryn Mawr attack. The Owls won five out of the six singles matches played, and the sixth was a tight affair to start as well. In first singles, Koukoutchos was neck-and-neck with Albright's Brooke Rooney through the first set, ultimately taking it to a tiebreaker after being down 5-4 late. However, Rooney held on to take the tiebreak 7-4, and Koukoutchos was unable to scratch the surface in the second set to slip to a tough loss.
However, the rest of the squad played lights out in their matches. In second singles, Siegle knocked off Alyssa Sell in straight sets by a score of 6-1, 6-1. Kendall Baller picked up her first singles victory of the season in the third position with a 6-1, 6-3 win. Acaba continued her hot play in the spring with a 6-3, 6-1 in her fourth singles match. Delate and Molly MacDougall would each also go on to win their first singles matches of the season as well in today's contest. Delate needed a tiebreaker in the first set to hang on, but that ultimately propelled her to a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win in her match. MacDougall took the first set of her match in commanding 6-2 fashion. However, Albright's Elizabeth Bengtsson stormed back to take the second frame 6-1 and force a tiebreak. MacDougall was able to regroup, ultimately earning the victory with a 10-5 win of the tiebreaking set.
Today's win is a huge boost to the Owls, as it is the team's first victory of the season. It is also the first win for interim head coach Andrew Silverman. His squad will look to keep their newfound momentum going as they get right back in action tomorrow afternoon back on the Bryn Mawr tennis courts. The Owls will play host to Washington College, who will pose a tough challenge for Bryn Mawr. The Shorewomen are 9-1 on the season and 4-0 in conference play. However, they did lose their most recent match against Salisbury, so they may be in a vulnerable position and primed to be beaten by the Owls. The teams will square off tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 PM.
