Box Score Collegeville, PA - The Ursinus College Women's Tennis team went into their match with McDaniel on Saturday with one goal in mind - take down the Green Terror, and in the process, give themselves a chance at grabbing the fifth and final berth in this year's Centennial Conference playoffs. Coupled with a win, the Bears also needed a Swarthmore loss and a Muhlenberg win to secure that playoff spot.
"It was a very fluid situation to say the least," head coach Pete Smith remarked. "There were a whole lot of moving parts today, and we needed every last one to fall into place. There was literally no margin for error."
And fall into place they did. After sweeping the doubles portion of the match against McDaniel to take a commanding 3-0 lead, the Bears learned that Swarthmore had lost to Johns Hopkins, and Muhlenberg had won a 5-4 thriller over Dickinson. The table was set, and Ursinus took full advantage.
The Bears (14-6, 5-5 CC) went on to sweep the singles matches and defeat McDaniel 9-0. With the win, history was made: for the first time ever, the Ursinus College Women's Tennis Team has qualified for the Centennial Conference playoffs.
"Without question, today was the biggest day in the history of the women's tennis program here at Ursinus," Smith said. "This has been an incredible journey for these girls, and I am so happy for them. Three weeks ago, we were 0-4 in the conference, and we were basically dead and buried in last place. To make this kind of a run, to win 6 of our last 7 matches this season and make the conference playoffs, it just speaks to the heart and determination of this team. Just amazing."
Ursinus used a familiar formula to get the match started, as they swept through doubles play once again. The third doubles team of BreAnna Bashaw and Christina Cromwell were perfect, pitching an 8-0 shutout to get the Bears on the board first. Audrey Whitebloom and Ariel Danziger quickly followed suit at the second flight, notching an 8-1 win. And at the first flight, Ashley Nguyen and Aileen Bevard survived a slow start to recover for a 9-8 (7-4) win. With a 3-0 lead, the Bears started singles play, unaware of the status of the other conference matches that held the keys to the post season.
"Not long after singles started, word came in that Swarthmore had lost, and Muhlenberg had won," Smith recalled. "Starting with our captains (Cromwell and Whitebloom), I went out to each singles court, one by one, to let the girls know exactly where things stood. I wanted them to know that this was now theirs for the taking. All six girls responded just as I hoped they would - all business."
The Bears went on to take all six singles matches to secure the 9-0 victory. Underclassmen Nguyen, Bevard and Bashaw continued their strong play of late, all winning in straight sets. The senior trio of Whitebloom, Cromwell and Sydney Dodson-Nease were also victorious in their final matches at the Ace Bailey Courts.
Ursinus concludes the regular season with a program record 14 wins, which blew by the previous record of 10 wins in a season. The Bears earned the fifth seed in next week's conference playoffs. They will visit fourth seeded Haverford, at a day and time yet to be announced. The Centennial Conference office will hold a 9:30 am conference call on Monday, April 27th to determine the day and time of the Ursinus-Haverford match.
