Tennis finishes up season

Last Saturday, April 27 both women's and men's Tennis competed in the Centennial Conference Championships. The two day tournament featured junior Kevin Alford advancing to the men's singles semifinals and a men's doubles team advancing to the finals. Many other JHU tennis players advanced to the semifinals and quarterfinals in the three day tournament. The competition was held on the campus of Centennial Conference rival Haverford.

Freshman Vandna Jerath upset her fourth seeded Muhlenberg opponent 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 on the first day of competition. The victory improved her personal record to 11-1 on the season. Also advancing to the women's singles round of 16 was senior Emily Petersen.

She blanked Western Maryland's Geneve Kaolins 6-0, 6-0. Petersen, the top women's seed out of Hopkins, was seeded at No. 5. Sophomore Lauren Shevchik was eliminated in the first round by Julie Chalfant of Dickinson by a score of 6-0, 6-1. She was the only other JHU women's singles player entered in the tournament.

In men's singles action, sophomore Justin Chan advanced to the round of 16 by defeating Muhlenberg's Brian Barkauska 6-2, 6-1. He was joined in advancing to the next round by JHU's high-seed Alford.

Alford was seeded No. 2 in the draw and received a bye for the opening day of singles competition. Senior Sion Roy was ousted in his first match. He lost 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 to Steve Wilkes of Ursinus.

In doubles action, Men's tennis advanced two teams to play in the quarterfinal rounds. Alford and freshman Justin Belisario were the top seed in the doubles competition.

They lived up to their high billing by beating Franklin & Marshall's Alex Chester and Alex Sanches 8-1 to advance to the round of eight. Seniors Erhan Bedestani and Ashish Lall defeated their opponent as well, by a score of 8-3.

Women's doubles entrants did not fare as well, as both teams were eliminated in the first round. Fourth-seeded entrants Petersen and Shevchik were downed in the round of 16 by Franklin & Marshall's squad, 8-3. Sophomore Liz Crowe and sophomore Cara Loeys fell in the first round to Sarah Niebler and Megan Schreiber of Muhlenberg 8-5.

Those who advanced to the next day of competition faced increasingly stiff competition among the remaining participants. Alford was the most successful of the Johns Hopkins participants. After an opening round bye, Alford won two matches to advance to the semifinals in the men's singles bracket.

Alford, the No. 2 seed, defeated Jeff Kraft of Muhlenberg 6-3, 6-2 in the round of 16. He next took on fifth-seed Louis Blanchette of Washinton, and knocked him out 6-3, 6-4. This advanced Alford to the semifinals held on Sunday, the last day of the tournament.

Men's tennis sophomore Justin Chan also advanced to the quarterfinals, by beating his Haverford opponent 6-3, 6-4. However, he fell in the round of eight to the tournament's top seeded opponent, Peter Taylor of Washington, in a difficult loss 6-0, 6-0.

Two men's doubles teams had advanced to the second day of competition. Alford and Belisario, ranked No. 1 in the men's doubles draw, won both their matches Saturday to advance to the final on Sunday. They defeated Ursinus's entrant 8-1, and followed that up with a close 9-7 victory over Haverford in the semifinals.

The Johns Hopkins women's team advanced two singles competitors to this round. Petersen and Jerath each won their round of 16, however each went on to fall in the quarterfinals.

Petersen defeated Dickinson's Tania Leach 6-2, 6-1 in her first match. Next the fifth-seeded Petersen faced the top-seeded tennis player in the women's tournament, Anjani Reddy of Swarthmore.

She was defeated by a score of 6-0, 6-2, knocking Petersen out of the competition. Jerath topped her Franklin & Marshall challenger in her first match of the day, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3). She, too, fell in the quarterfinal round, by a score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 versus Dickinson.

The final championships were concluded Sunday afternoon at Haverford, the third and final day of the tournament. Remaining in the tournament was Alford in the singles tournament and the doubles tandem of Alford and Belisario in the doubles category.

Alford fell to Washington College's Asfand Farouk in the men's singles semifinals, ending his day but securing JHU's highest individual finish for the competition.

Alford had one more chance at first place, however, as he and doubles teammate Belisario took on No. 2 seed Rafael Martins and Taylor of Washington College in the final championship round. They were defeated 6-2, 6-2.

Despite the loss, Alford reflected on the fact that the team still accomplished a great deal by advancing as far in the tournament as they did.

"I was really pleased with doubles. We didn't play particularly well early but we got away with it. Then as the tournament went on we started playing well," said Alford.

The JHU Men's tennis thus finishes its spring season 7-3 overall and 6-2 in the Centennial Conference. The Women's team had a successful year in posting a 9-3 overall record, 8-2 in their Centennial Conference.

Looking back on their season, players reflected on a year that began amid lower expectations than years past, but one in which the team persevered.

"Starting at the beginning we had lost a couple of key players," said Alford.

"We knew second place in the conference would be tough. We ended up finishing third which was slightly disappointing, but it was still overall a good year," he said.