The women's tennis team finished its Spring Break trip to California last Wednesday with two more victories, improving its record against D-III schools to 6-0. As a result of its impressive record, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranked the Polar Bears at No. 13 nationally.
The Polar Bears concluded the trip with a pair of crushing 8-1 wins, earning a conference win against NESCAC rival Trinity and picking up a road victory against the host school, the University of the Redlands. A planned match against California State University Northridge was rained out.
Bowdoin was able to grab an early lead in both matches thanks to new doubles pairings that went unbeaten in both matches. The newly fashioned duos of Kellen Alberstone '13 and Kate Winingham '14, Emily Lombardi '12 and Emma Lewis '14, and Chantalle Lavertu '13 and Hannah Hoerner '12 each came away with two wins in the sweep.
The team also extended its domination into singles play, with No. 1 Alberstone No. 2 Lombardi, No. 4 Winingham and No. 5 Lavertu each coming away with perfect 2-0 records for the day.
In its best season opening trip since 2007, Bowdoin went 6-1, only falling 7-0 to Dartmouth, a D-I team, on March 17. They began the trip on March 13 with a pair of 7-2 victories against UC-Santa Cruz and Chapman University. The team then posted an 8-1 win over Texas-Tyler on the 14th and dispatched Skidmore 8-1 on the 18th.
"We had a really great spring trip this year—definitely the best I have been on in my three years here," said Hoerner. "We set the tone for the rest of the season by winning all six of our D-III matches. Our team is physically stronger than in past years and I think we should be able to pull out some solid wins against the top teams."
Chantalle Lavertu '13 attested to the team's excitement and enthusiasm for the rest of the season.
"We can't wait to play our dual matches this spring," she said. "We are so pumped for the season and ready to open up against Wesleyan on Saturday."
The Polar Bears will next take the court this Saturday when they host Wesleyan in their home opener at 10 a.m.