HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Bryn Mawr team had to battle both the weather and a talented Gettysburg College squad earlier Saturday, and the Owls still nearly pulled off a huge win despite the challenging conditions. Amalia Parrish and Audrey Camacho each went undefeated on the day, claiming three total wins for the team. Libby Hemp also earned a big win for the Owls, but Bryn Mawr fell just a match short of claiming the victory, as Gettysburg was able to hold on for a 5-4 win in the match.
The Bullets were able to collect the first two points of the day at second and third doubles, despite strong performances from each of the Owl pairings in those matches. Christina Xue and Hemp paired up at third doubles and kept that match neck-and-neck for a long time. Late in the contest, the Owls trailed 6-5 but were still on serve. However, their Bullets opponents won the next two games to ultimately take the late win by an 8-5 score. Caroline Horvatits and Francesca Caramazza came equally close to a win of their own, but ultimately lost by a similar 8-4 score.
However, the Owls got one back in first doubles thanks to a tremendous effort from Parrish and Camacho. The duo found themselves trailing early, falling behind by scores of 3-0 and 4-1. The Bryn Mawr athletes remained calm and stuck with the gameplan, and their ferocity really started to show as the match wore on. Each player hit some incredibly powerful shots at key points in the match, and their Gettysburg opponents ultimately started to struggle with the force and precision of the Bryn Mawr attack. The Owls finally climbed all the way back to tie the match up at 7-7 and force a tiebreak. Parrish and Camacho got off to a great start in that breaker, quickly opening up a 4-1 lead. However, thanks to several double faults, Gettysburg battled right back in it and ultimately took a 5-4 lead of their own. But Parrish and Camacho had dug too far out of the hole to give up now. The first-year duo showed some impressive poise in the waning moments of the tiebreak, winning three straight points to shock their opponents and claim a big 8-7 (7-5) win for Bryn Mawr.
With the momentum suddenly swung in the favor of the Owls, singles play took on a whole new atmosphere. Playing inside Haverford's Alumni Field House, which houses four courts, each match took on a sense of urgency and importance. Gettysburg seemed to right the ship early on in singles with wins at the third and fourth spots. Caramazza and Horvatits each put on great efforts once again, but both came up a little short in the final scoreline. That got the Bullets within one match of clinching the day.
The Owls were not quite ready to write the match off just yet though, and Bryn Mawr once again claimed huge wins thanks to Parrish and Camacho. First, Camacho claimed a dominant win at second singles. The first-year did not give her opponent any time or space to maneuver, and she quickly got a leg up by winning the opening set 6-2. The second set was a bit more of a test, but Camacho still hung on easily to complete the win by a 6-2, 6-4 score. Parrish followed up with a huge win of her own. After losing the opening set 6-4, she continued to stay focused and challenge her opponent, and that strategy started to pay off. Parrish claimed the next set by a 6-2 scoreline, and with the match still in the balance went on to play a decisive third set. In that final frame, Parrish was even more in command, as she ultimately sealed the deal with a 6-1 win to give Bryn Mawr their third point of the day. Hemp then followed up with another huge win for the Owls, as she claimed a hard-fought win in sixth singles by a 6-4, 6-4 scoreline to get Bryn Mawr within a point of claiming the match.
Unfortunately, that other match did not break the Owls' way. Xue gave it a great effort, but she lost a 6-0, 6-0 match at fifth singles, and that proved decisive, as Gettysburg claimed the 5-4 win.
Despite the final result, it was still yet another positive performance from the Owls. Today's match was the closest Bryn Mawr has played Gettysburg since the 2006-2007 season, another 5-4 loss for the Owls. In fact, Bryn Mawr has never beaten the Bullets - they have only come this close two other times (a 5-4 loss in 1999-2000 being the other occurrence).
The Owls now close out their 2019 season with a two-match road trip, starting Tuesday with a match at Ursinus at 4:00 PM. They will then cap off their campaign with a trip to Swarthmore next Saturday for a 10:00 AM match.
