For the second consecutive year, the women's Intercollegiate Tennis Association Tournament (ITA) was held at Bowdoin. The ITA event, which lasted from Friday to Sunday, showcased the best singles and doubles that New England Division III women's tennis has to offer. The Polar Bears played well and won many tough matches.
In first-round action, co-captain Kara Perriello '06, along with teammates Kristen Raymond '08 and Sarah D'Elia '09 handily defeated their opponents, dropping just nine games between them in three matches.
Senior Kelsey Hughes endured a more difficult match, losing a close contest to an Amherst starter, 6-2, 6-3.
In second-round action, the women flexed their muscles, winning two of three matches. Perriello in particular weathered a roller-coaster of a match. After dropping the first set 6-7, she stormed back to win the second set 6-2. Perriello defeated her opponent in a super tiebreaker, 10-4.
Raymond advanced after her opponent withdrew because of a knee injury. D'Elia, forced to play her second match at nearby Maine Pines because of a shortage of court space, had difficulty adjusting to the lighting and the speed of the indoor courts. After dropping the first set 6-0, she rebounded to take the second set 6-1, then lost the third set in a super-tie breaker.
"In retrospect, I feel like it was a match I should have won. But I also think my opponent played pretty well," D'Elia said.
In round 16 on Saturday, Raymond cruised through her match, 6-2, 6-1, against a top player from Brandeis. In the quarterfinals, she drew Kristen Raverta, a towering player from Amherst. Raymond dropped the first set 6-3. Her changes in strategy were to no avail, and she dropped the second set 6-2 and was eliminated from the tournament.
"Even though she lost in the quarters, Kristen played one hell of a tournament," teammate D'Elia said after the match.
In doubles, Perriello and Hughes crushed their first and second round opponents, 8-2 and 8-6, respectively. The doubles pairing of senior co-captain Kristina Sisk and Raymond lost 8-5 to a talented duo from Williams.
Hughes and Perriello were the last Bowdoin players eliminated from the tournament. The ladies battled the number one team from Williams and lost in a 9-7 nail-biter.
"Everyone played well. But I think the most important thing our team came away from this tournament with was specific things we need to work on in order to become an elite team in Division III," D'Elia said.