No. 22 women’s tennis (12-9, 5-5 NESCAC) saw its NCAA Div. III tournament run come to an end in Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday, with a 4-0 second-round loss to the No. 11 Bowdoin Polar Bears (15-7, 8-2 NESCAC), after opening the tournament with a 4-0 victory over the SUNY New Paltz Hawks (8-11) on Friday.
The Ephs received one of 12 at-large bids to the NCAA tournament based on their strong performance throughout the season, marking their 28th appearance in program history, their first since 2024.
In the first round of the tournament, the Ephs faced the Hawks, who qualified for the tournament as State University of New York Athletic Conference champions. Though the Ephs felt confident entering the tournament, Katelyn Wu ’29, who competed on the No. 2 doubles team, said it was important to remain level-headed. “You never know how a match is going to go, even if it’s favored in one direction,” she said.
Though All-NESCAC Second Team Singles honoree Ayanna Varma ’29 did not play a singles match due to illness, she competed as part of the No. 3 doubles team with Mia Thomann ’26. Due to weather conditions, the duo attempted to stick to tennis fundamentals and focus on minimizing errors. “It was a little windy so we played a high percentage of balls in the court,” Varma wrote to the Record.
The Ephs won the doubles point with 6-1 and 6-0 victories in the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles spots, respectively.
In the postseason, once the overall team doubles point is decided by a best-of-three win, any doubles matches still ongoing cease play. As such, the No. 1 doubles team of Julia Zhang ’27 and Ahn Lin ’27 team left their match unfinished following the victories from the No. 2 and No. 3 teams. The Ephs then secured the overall win with singles victories from co-captain Jane Ladaga ’26, Lin, and Ellie Stark ’28, who each dropped only one game across both their sets.
The Ephs faced the Polar Bears indoors due to rain on Saturday, falling 4-0 in the second round of the tournament. The Ephs struggled early in the day, with their No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams losing 6-0 and 6-3, respectively, to give the Polar Bears the doubles point. Though their singles matches lasted over an hour, Thomann, Zhang, and Ladaga each fell in straight sets, sealing the team’s defeat. Playing in the No. 2 singles spot, Varma had lost her first set 7-6, but was leading the second set 4-1 when the contest ended.
Despite the results, Varma reflected on the positive takeaways from Saturday. “I thought it was a strong doubles performance from us too, and I think we challenged them well,” she wrote. “My singles was a battle — I thought the indoor courts really suited my gamestyle for that matchup and I felt that I competed to the best of my ability.”
The loss marked the end of their season, and the Ephs looked back on their performance with pride.
Ladaga pointed to the satisfaction of making it to the second round of NCAAs after falling short of the tournament in the previous year. “This year, we were able to win our first round and were able to put our name onto the tournament bracket, which was a fun new experience for us,” she said.
As a senior leaving the program, Ladaga hopes her teammates can build off of her experiences. “I just really wanted to pour all my knowledge and things that I’ve learned throughout the four years I’ve been here onto the underclassmen,” she said.
Wu highlighted the seniors’ outsized role on the team. “You don’t really realize how much goes on behind the scenes in terms of what the captains and seniors do with the coaches,” she said. “Without them, I think it would be very hard to get on the same page.”
Looking towards next season, Wu intends to replicate the welcoming environment she felt this year for the incoming first-years. “I want to help the freshmen be a part of that family,” she said.
