Women's tennis second in conference final

Team is first tennis team ever to finish second

Late last Friday Night, the women's tennis team ate dinner at the fancy Donatas restaurant already confident that they would soon fullfill their season's goal, to take second in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament.

That day the team earned a spot in the championship game by avenging two earlier conferences losses against Ohio Wesleyan University and Denison University. It was the first time in Oberlin's women's tennis history that an Oberlin team has reached the championship game and the first Oberlin team ever to win second in a conference tournament. As expected, Saturday in the championship game the team was crushed by Kenyon College 9-0, a potential national champion and the number one ranked team in the country.

With a second-place finish in the NCAC tournament, the Yeowomen ended their '97 season with a 13-10 record.

Thursday, April 24, The Yeowomen received a huge boost in their quest for second when they were given the tournament's third-seed, which was up for grabs after the team's April 20th 5-4 loss to Ohio Wesleyan. Ohio Wesleyan was the first roadblock for the Yeowomen.

The Yeowomen started out strong winning the first and second doubles, 8-3 and 8-6.

In singles, co-captain senior Bethany Pribila crushed her opponent 6-0, 6-1, and sophomore Leigh Ann Totty won the number two singles 6-3, 6-4. Oberlin was now one win short of victory.

Sophomore Tara Sievers, who had been blanked 6-0, 6-0 in her previous match with Ohio Wesleyan's Lindsy Gale, was the one who pulled through for the team. Sievers avenged her earlier loss to Gale with a 7-6(7-3), 6-0 whipping to assure a Yeowomen victory and a rematch with Denison.

"[Revenge] gives you an extra kick in the butt," Sievers said. "Other teams can sense that when you walk out on the court and you have that 'aura' that says, 'we are going to kick your butt.'"

Against Denison, Oberlin started out strong, taking two of the three doubles to begin the match. In both number one and two doubles, the Yeowomen ask for line judges after they disputed several of Denison's calls. After getting line-judges both teams pulled out victories. Bradford and Pribila won number one doubles 8-6. In number two doubles, the team of Sievers and Totty stormed back from a 5-2 defict to earn a 8-5 victory. In their previous match with Denison, the two had been up 6-3, before losing 9-8.

After the first set of singles play, the teams had to move indoors because of darkness. Denison won the bottom three singles forcing the Yeowomen to take the top three singles to claim victory.

"We knew the match was going to be close," Pribila said. "We just put in 100 percent group effort."

Pribila, the number one singles player, won her match in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Then Totty came back to win hers in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. This left Bradford's match as the decider.

Back in her sophomore year, Bradford was in the same position in a dual-match against Denison, but she lost. This time, as a senior, Bradford had the maturity to pull through with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win to seal an Oberlin victory.

"It was just amazing," Bradford said. "I have never felt more fulfilled."

After the victory, Bradford and Pribila, were carried off the court by their teammates in celebration.

"We came together as a team," sophomore Tara Sievers said. "We each had a responsibility to the team, and we each pulled our own weight."

The 5-4 victory over Denison put Oberlin in the championship game against Kenyon. The Yeowomen had gotten want they had wanted, second place, and Saturday the team had fun as it fell to the potential national champions, 9-0.

"We did great," Sievers said. "It is kind of cool because people on campus don't expect it."

"The only team we lost to will probably be national champions and that's damn good and I think people should recognize it," Petersen said.

Coach Don Hunsinger was singled out in his contributions to the team and the season by all of the players.

"I don't think we could ask for a better coach," Pribila said.

"He was the one that drove us there," Sievers said.

Individually, several Yeowomen were highly ranked in the conference for the season. Pribila finished the season as the conference's top number one singles player with a 16-5 record, 6-1 in NCAC play. Pribilia is also ranked 12th in the region. Totty was the third ranked, number two singles player, with a record of 11-7, 5-2 in conference. The number one doubles team of Bradford and Pribila was also first in the conference rankings with a 8-4, 5-1 record.

"Everything we were striving for this season came together," Bradford said. "We deserve it."