No. 9 women’s tennis (4-0, 2-0 NESCAC) defeated the No. 15 Tufts Jumbos (0-2, 0-1 NESCAC) and the Bates Bobcats (2-4, 0-2 NESCAC) in matches hosted at home last weekend. The Ephs narrowly beat the Jumbos 5-4 and swept the Bobcats 9-0, maintaining an undefeated record. The Ephs now sit at first in the NESCAC, tied with Middlebury (2-0, 2-0 NESCAC) and Wesleyan (2-0, 2-0 NESCAC).
The Ephs started out strong in their matchup against the Jumbos. In first doubles, co-captains Erica Ekstrand ’24 and Yuu Ishikawa ’25 squeaked out an 8-6 victory against Tufts.
Annabelle Siegel ’26 brought the Ephs’ overall lead up to 3-1 after winning third singles. The Ephs were only a point away from the victory when the Jumbos secured two points in first and fourth singles. Ishikawa won straight but close sets, 7-5 and 7-6, securing the winning match for the Ephs.
Jane Ladaga ’26 fell to Tufts’ Natalie Hu, winning the first set 6-2 but dropping the second and third. The Ephs ended the indoor match with a 5-4 score.
Ekstrand, who missed Sunday’s match due to illness, said her teammate Zhang’s courtside support kept her and the team’s energy through the course of seven hours. “I remember in the second set I was so dizzy I felt like I was going to faint, and then I heard the loudest ‘Let’s go Erica!’ and it got me up to that baseline to return the ball,” Ekstrand said.
In the second competition of the weekend, women’s tennis shutout Bates in a resounding 9-0 victory. Head Coach Anik Cepeda praised the Ephs’ professionalism despite switching up the doubles pairings moments before the match. “It was a mature moment for our team,” she said.
Siegel and Ladaga kicked off the doubles matches with an 8-3 victory. The combination of Siegel’s power at the baseline and Ladaga’s clean net play helped the pair win. In second doubles, Ishikawa and Lin showcased a similar strategy, taking a powerful win for the Ephs. In third doubles, Aggarwal and Margaux Molyneux ’27 played a fierce first two games. Despite losing the first set, the duo pulled off an 8-2 win, maintaining the Ephs’ spotless scoreline.
Kicking off singles competition, Molyneux dominated the court in fifth singles, winning straight sets 6-0 and 6-1. Siegel secured a win in second singles with grueling sets against Bates’ Julia Anderson.
Ishikawa had a rough start, losing the first set 1-6 but winning the next two sets 6-2. In fourth singles, Aggarwal secured 6-2 wins in consecutive sets. Despite her opponent taking the second set, Ladaga fought a strong match, winning in third singles. Zhang highlighted the strong rally of her teammates. “Everyone did a good job keeping their calm when down, thanks to the support from their teammates,” Zhang said.
Cepeda is excited by the continual growth in the Ephs’ performance. “From the outside looking in, it’s clear we’re a bigger and deeper team than we’ve been in quite some time,” Cepeda said.
Women’s tennis will face Whitman College (8-3) and California Institute of Technology (1-2), on March 18 and 19, respectively.
