Women's Tennis Edged Out By Washington College 5-4

CHESTERTOWN, Md. - Sophomore Stephanie Chia and freshman Kate Samuelson were both double-winners in singles and doubles play, but it wasn't enough to lead the Swarthmore College women's tennis team (3-7, 2-2) past homestanding Washington College, as the Shorewomen used superior play from their top players to outlast Swat 5-4 on Wednesday afternoon.

In a matchup of squads ranked in the Top 15 of the ITA's Mideast Regional rankings, the Garnet fell behind the Shorewomen 2-0 after dropping its first two doubles matches.

Swarthmore got on the board at No. 3 doubles when Chia and Samuelson earned a hard fought win over the Shorewomen's Kat Cohen/Bethany Daller 9-8.

In singles play, the Garnet got wins from No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles, but Washington proved too much at the top half of the flight, hanging on for the 5-4 win. After Washington took the first result of singles' play at No. 2, Swarthmore narrowed the gap when No. 4 Kelsey Johnson defeated Campbell McNicol 6-2, 6-2. 

Still, Swarthmore's hopes of a critical road conference win were quickly dashed, as Washington used wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles to seal the match. With the outcome already determined, Samuelson (8-3) and Chia (8-5) picked up singles wins at No. 5 and No. 6 respectively.

Swarthmore returns home to host Gettysburg on Saturday.