Alford advances to Tennis Conf. finals

The tennis season came to an end as the last of the Blue Jays
was defeated at the Men's Centennial Conference Championships on Sunday.

Senior Kevin Alford competed in the Conference finals match but was
defeated by the top seed, Peter Taylor of Washington College, 6-1, 6-1.
Alford, seeded third, was also the only Hopkins tennis player to
advance to the Conference semifinal match. In the semifinals
Alford faced a tough opponent No. 2 seed Louis Blanchette, also from
Washington College. After dropping the first set, Alford was able
to come back and eventually defeat his opponent, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. 

"I thought I played well, I had a big game in the semis. 
Blanchette is a very strong player," Alford said. "Luckily, I was
able to fight back from a one set deficit.  What I'm most proud
of, however, is my perseverance. I didn't give up even after
falling behind early."

When asked about his loss in the finals, Alford said, "I just ran into
an excellent tennis player. I just got outclassed, it happens
sometimes."

Alford finished his final season on the team with an impressive 10-2
record as the No. 1 singles player with a 13-3 record overall.

Although the rest of the Men's Tennis team did not fare as well as
Alford, they still managed a respectable finish. Three of the
Hopkins men, including Alford, were able to advance to the round of
16. The other two who advanced were sophomore Justin Belisario and
junior Grant Roch. Belisario defeated Alex Chester of Franklin
& Marshall 6-4, 7-6 (0), while Roch smoked Jeremy Landis 6-1,
6-0. Since Alford was the No. 3 seed, he got a bye to round of 16.

In the round of 16, the competition got much stiffer, as Belisario faced
the fifth seed Hans Hardisty of Gettysburg College. Roch faced the
No. 2 seed Louis Blanchette, and Alford faced Randolph Moon of
Haverford.

Both Belisario and Alford were able to defeat their opponents; with
Justin upsetting the fifth seeded Hardisty, 6-1, 3-6, (8-6) and Kevin
topping Randolph Moon 6-2, 6-2. Unfortunately, Roch was
defeated by the second seeded Blanchette 6-1, 6-1.

Two Blue Jays made it into the quarter finals but only one advanced to
the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, Belisario played the No. 1
seed Peter Taylor, and ultimately lost, 6-0, 6-2. Kevin faced and
defeated Aaron Scherb of Haverford 6-2, 7-5.

In doubles action, the tandem of Alford and Belisario, the No. 2 seed,
were given a bye in the first round before facing Andrew Mayer and
Bryan Pilkington from Franklin & Marshall. The Jays came out
on top, winning 8-2, advancing to the quarterfinals.  However,
they were upset in the quarterfinals by Jeff Kraft and Cameron Parke of
Muhlenberg, 8-3.

The combo of Grant Roch and freshman Michael Kelly-Sell were also able
to advance. They defeated Geoff Gamble and Hans Hardisty 9-8 to
move onto the round of 16. However, their run was abruptly ended
as they could not overcome Asfand Farouk and Alvaro Prado of
Washington, losing 8-3.

Before the Centennial Championships, the men defeated Franklin &
Marshall 6-1 last Wednesday. Hopkins took five of the six singles
points and took the doubles point, winning all three of the double
matches.

The men ended their season 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the Centennial
Conference. Speaking on his feelings on the teams finish this season,
Alford said, "I'm pretty satisfied with finish considering that we were
not ranked regionally in the beginning of the season. We moved
into the rankings, we moved to 16th.  It's a solid showing,
hopefully we'll be able to build on it for next year."

On the women's side, Vandna Jerath advanced the furthest, making it to
the quarterfinals before being upset by the No. 5 seed Shoko Nakamura
of Washington College. The third seeded Jerath fell 6-0, 6-2.

To get to the quarterfinals, Jerath had to beat two other
competitors.  The victims were Shanna Pusey of McDaniel who Vandna
topped 6-3, 6-1, and Mackenzie Parke of Muhlenberg, who Jerath downed
6-3, 6-4.

Two other Hopkins women made it passed the first round, sophomore
Michelle Liang and junior Cara Loeys. Liang downed Emily Ruben of
Dickinson in three sets to advance, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, while Loeys had an
easier time, shutting out Ioana Butoi of Bryn Mawr 6-0,
6-0. Unfortunately, neither was able to pass the round of 16, with
Liang falling to the fifth seed Kristina Pao of Swarthmore 6-3, 6-1,
and Loeys being downed by the No. 2 seed Gena Ross of Muhlenberg, 6-0,
6-1.

In doubles, two squads advanced to the round of 16 before falling. Liang
and Loeys, fifth seeded doubles, won by default over their
opponents before losing to the No. 2 seed Julie Chalfant and Melisa
Sviatko of Dickinson 8-1. Junior Liz Crow and freshman Amanda
Leese were the other duo that advanced, beating Kaity Butler and
Courtney Root of Ursinus before dropping their next match 8-3 to the
top seeded doubles tandem, Ne'ko Browder and Shoko Nakamura of
Washington College.

Before competing in the Championships, the women pounded on Bryn Mawr,
easily winning 8-1. Hopkins won all but one of the singles points
and swept all three doubles points.

The women ended their season 7-7 overall and 7-3 in the Centennial Conference.

Both teams hope to improve on this year's results, as almost all of the starters on both teams will be returning.

Apparently, USA Basketball has offered Elton Brand, Richard
Jefferson and Nick Collison to compete in the Olympic qualifying
tournament this summer. The Sports staff asks "Why?"