Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

AMHERST, Mass. – For the second year in a row, the Amherst College women’s tennis team knocked Skidmore College out of the NCAA Tournament with a Second Round 5-0 result. Amherst swept the doubles action, before using a pair of singles wins in the middle of the ladder. Amherst advances to tomorrow’s NCAA Third Round, where they will face NESCAC rival Tufts University at 12 p.m.

In doubles play, Amherst took a hard-earned sweep of the three matches. On court one, Amherst’s Brittany Berckes (Secaucas, N.J.) and Natasha Brown (Woodland Hills, Calif.) fell behind 2-0, before winning eight of the next nine games to take the point with an 8-3 win. In the number two match, Amherst’s pairing of Anuja Ankola (Scarsdale, N.Y.) and Mimi Bell (Cleveland, Ohio) gutted out an 8-6 tiebreaker to take the point 9-8. Amherst’s threes had the easiest time, as Jill Wexler (Beverly, Mass.) and Laura Danzig (Allendale, N.J.) beat Skidmore’s Laura Attley and Tory Engros 8-2.

During singles action, Amherst jumped out to a one-set lead in all six matches, before Skidmore made the top-ranked Lord Jeffs battle for every point in the second frame. Amherst ultimately took a pair of wins at the number three and four courts, clinching the match riding wins from Wexler and Brown. Wexler topped Skidmore’s Allie Burns 6-0, 6-3, while Brown ousted Laura Attley 6-1, 6-3.

Both Berckes and Carlissa King (Laurelton, N.Y.) gutted out 6-4 wins in the first sets of the one and two singles bouts, but were in dogfights against Danika Robison and Rachel Loeb in the second set when play was halted. Similarly, Laken King (Laurelton, N.Y.) and Bell won their first sets 6-1 and 6-2 at numbers five and six, but were sitting at 4-4 and 2-1 in the second sets against Engros and Stephanie Abrams.

Amherst 5, vs. Skidmore 0

Doubles
1 - Berckes/Brown (Amherst) def. Loeb/Robison (Skidmore) - 8-3
2 - Ankola/Bell (Amherst) def. Burns/Abrams (Skidmore) - 9-8 (8-6)
3 - Wexler/Danzig (Amherst) def. Attley/Engros (Skidmore) - 8-2

Singles
1 - Brittany Berckes (Amherst) vs. Danika Robison (Skidmore) - 6-4, 3-2 DNF
2 - Carlissa King (Amherst) vs. Rachel Loeb (Skidmore) - 6-4, 1-1 DNF
3 - Jill Wexler (Amherst) def. Allie Burns (Skidmore) - 6-0, 6-3
4 - Natasha Brown (Amherst) def. Laura Attley (Skidmore) - 6-1, 6-3
5 - Laken King (Amherst) vs. Tory Engros (Skidmore) - 6-1, 4-4 DNF
6 - Mimi Bell (Amherst) vs. Stephanie Abrams (Skidmore) - 6-2, 2-1 DNF