The women's tennis team kicked off the season on a high note, winning the ECAC Women's Tennis Open Championship at Trinity last weekend. The Bears had players in all of the championship matches and won four of the five flights to down Brandeis, Trinity, Connecticut College, and RPI.
"It was a great note to start our season and year on," said senior captain Sarah D'Elia. "It was a way for everyone to gain match play experience and build their confidence."
Rachel Waldman '09 expressed her excitement about the victory.
"Winning the ECAC was a great start to our season," Waldman said. "It gave us the confidence we need looking ahead to the upcoming tournaments in the fall, and showed us some fundamental things that we need to work on to obtain our ultimate goal, a shot at a national championship in the spring."
Emily Lombardi '12, Brett Davis '10, and Stephanie Langer '11 all came out on top in the singles flights. Playing doubles, Rachel Waldman and Charlotte Hitch '09 claimed the first-place title.
The Bears are also looking forward to watching their new young talent.
"It was fun to watch one of our freshmen, Emily Lombardi, play a match for the first time," Waldman said. "We were able to see that she is going to play a big part of our team this season and be a very solid player in match competition."
Overall, the women's tennis team hopes to gain momentum from this victory as they look to the future.
"In the fall our goal is to build our confidence and work on different parts of our game for the spring season," D'Elia said. The team will focus on taking risks and building confidence in future matches.
Following their success last spring, the Polar Bears intend to go even further this season.
"Last year we made it to the NCAA Elite 8 for the first time in college history. This year, we would like to meet and hopefully surpass that level come May 2009," Waldman said.