The women's tennis team continues to stand strong against some of the top teams in the nation.
After playing in the very competitive Eastern Invitational Tournament hosted by West Point this last weekend, the Lady Polar Bears will compete in the Gail Smith Doubles Tournament at Middlebury College next week before fall break.
In last year's doubles tournament at Middlebury, only one of the three Polar Bear teams made it past the round-robin opening round.
One member of that doubles team was this year's co-captain, Emily Lombardi '12, who posted a record of 5-1 throughout the weekend.
This last weekend at the Eastern Invitational Tournament, the women's tennis team proved its strength once again as they went head-to-head against Division I schools such as Cornell University, Binghamton University and Bucknell College, among numerous others.
Lombardi finished the tournament with a 2-2 record in the first flight, taking a victory of Lauren Bates from Binghamton 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
Lombardi then played against the No. 7 seed of the tournament, Tania Varela from Bucknell University, and lost in close sets 6-2, 3-6, and 10-3. In the back-draw she defeated a player from Seton Hall University.
Sophomore Hannah Hoerner defeated Pam Emery from Rhode Island University in her first match and was stopped by the second seed Jilija Korshunova of Fairleigh Dickinson University in the second round.
Co-captain Liz Pedowitz '10 had a tough match against Kristen Kohagen of Cornell University in the first round. She then proceeded to win the next three matches, one of which was over a West Point player.
Pedowitz said, "There was definitely good tennis this weekend. This weekend proved we can compete with the some of the strongest teams in the Northeast. There were no blowouts."
In the doubles brackets, first years Kellen Alberstone and Chantal Lavertu posted an impressive performance in the first flight.
The tandem cruised through their first two rounds, defeating a team from the University of Connecticut in their first match and a team from Stony Brook in their second.
In the round of eight, they matched up against the No. 2 seed of the tournament and lost in a tight proset, 8-6.
Brett Davis '10 and Nikki Kuna '13, also competed fiercely, reaching the round of the elite eight in their bracket by crushing their opponents from Duquesne University and Middlebury College.
Their momentum was brought to a halt by Fanny Charliquart and Aylin Mehter, a top seeded team of Stony Brook University. This match was the first time that Davis and Kuna have played together as a team.
"Many coaches of the other universities were complimenting our team," said Pedowitz. "I think we left our mark in the tournament. The team hopes to take the winning streak to the upcoming Middlebury doubles tournament.