The Hopkins women’s tennis team rolled through all opponents this past Saturday at the Swarthmore Invitational in Swarthmore, Pa. The Lady Jays sent sophomore Olivia Kasten and freshman Amanda Austi to the tournament to play against talented players from Dickinson and Swarthmore. Both Kasten and Austi competed admirably, securing a combined 8-0 record in singles matches and 2-0 record in the doubles bracket to go undefeated in the entire tournament. “We really stuck to our game-plan this weekend and it led to great success,” Kasten said. “We stayed focused and relaxed throughout all of our matches and we felt comfortable with all of the shots we took. It was great to sweep the competition this weekend.”
Austi opened up singles match play with a convincing 6-3 win over Madison Parks of Dickinson. She continued to breeze past her competition, as she flattened Olivia Cheng of Swarthmore in the second round and defeated Joanna Nunes of Dickinson 6-1. Entering her final singles match of the day, Austi did not drop a single game, as she dropped Brooke Wilkins of Swarthmore 6-0 to conclude her singles matches.
Kasten was easily as dominant as Austi in singles play. She began her undefeated run by defeating Wilkins 6-3 in the first round followed by a sweep of Parks 6-0 in the second round. Kasten went on to crush Chen 6-1 in the third round before cruising to a 6-2 victory over Nunes to close out singles play on the day.
The doubles bracket was just as enjoyable for the Blue Jays, as they conquered both pairs of opponents they faced. Kasten and Austi were slated first against the formidable Dickinson duo of Parks and Nunes. They quickly dispatched the pair by a score of 6-2. Next, the Lady Jays faced Cheng and Wilkins of Swarthmore and took care of them swiftly, finishing the match by a score of 6-1. This final victory secured an undefeated tournament for the Blue Jays, as Kasten and Austi combined to go 10-0 on the day while never giving up more than three games in any given match. “The highlight of the day, to me, was how dominant Amanda and I were during doubles play,” Kasten said. “We’ve never played doubles together before, but it worked out very nicely against the other conference teams.
The Swarthmore tournament marks the end of the fall season for Hopkins, as they will continue to train for the upcoming spring season. Kasten discussed what the team expectations were heading into the spring season. “I think everyone on the team expects to make it farther in the NCAA tournament than we ever have before. We definitely have the talent and opportunity to win the entire thing” Kasten said. “We’ve still got a lot of our starters from last season and the new freshman additions this year have given us more depth and potential in our line-up.”
The Jays will return to action in mid-February when they compete in the annual ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Having won the championship last year, the Lady Jays will look to repeat, as they face some of the top contenders in all of women’s Division III tennis.
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