BY MELINDA PETRE

In print | Published May 1, 2008

Women’s tennis (12-6, 9-1 CC) traveled to Johns Hopkins University this weekend to compete in the Centennial Conference Championships. In the semi-finals , they faced off against a resilient Muhlenberg College team (10-5, 8-2 CC), which they handily defeated 5-2 for their second win against the Mules this season. “Going into the Conference Championships this weekend, the team was pretty pumped up. We recently played a very close match against the nationally ranked TCNJ [The College of New Jersey] and felt good about our performance,” Erica Lukoski ’08 said.

“During the regular season we only beat Muhlenberg 5-4,” Rachel Wallwork ’10 said. “So everyone needed to play their best.”

Led by the All-Centennial Conference doubles team of Jennie Park ’09 and Rachel Wallwork ’10, the Garnet began the day winning doubles 2-1. Erica Lukoski ’08 and Luann Cignavitch ’11 won the #2 doubles match. “Our doubles win was great. We lost to them in a tight match 9-7 during conference play and wanted a chance to play against them. We were aggressive from the start and stepped up on key points,” Lukoski said.

In singles action, Centennial Conference Player of the Year Rachel Wallwork ’10 led the team with a win at #1 singles. Swat also saw singles victories from three-time All- Centennial Conference selection Jennie Park, Jamie Midyette ’08 and Alexis Hickman ’11. “I won my singles match, which confirmed our win, but the two still on the court looked like they were going to pull through their matches as well. The whole team played a really great match,” Hickman said.

“Everyone on the team has improved tremendously throughout the season and our hard work was reflected in the score. I was really impressed by the high level of energy of the team during the Muhlenberg match,” Wallwork said.

On Sunday, Swarthmore faced Johns Hopkins (15-3, 10-0) for the Centennial Conference Championship. “The atmosphere was very intense. It was raining so we played indoors, which changed the match a bit. The fact that a conference championship title was on the line was quite evident in the mood of the indoor tennis center,” recalled Lukoski said.

Swat got off to a rough start, trailing the Blue Jays 2-1 after doubles. “Being down 2-1 going into singles is a lot different than 3-0, and our singles play was great, coming out with great intensity and effort,” Lukoski said.

Swarthmore saw singles victories from Wallwork and Park but couldn’t overcome Hopkins for the title, falling 5-3. The Garnet lost to the Blue Jays 9-0 in regular season play.

“My singles match was mentally and physically exhausting, but the team support really helped me pull through,” Park said.

Wallwork agreed, saying, “The support from the team was crucial for finding the energy to come back and win those close matches.”

“The match was awesome. As our coach told us, we left it all out on the court. We showed that despite graduating a significant portion of our line-up last year, we still came in second in the conference and played in the championship match. The only thing that could have made the match better would have been winning, but I am very pleased with the match we played and the sportsmanship we showed,” contributed Lukoski said.

“All of our hard work this season really paid off this weekend,” Park said. “While we lost in the conference finals, everyone played their best, and you can’t ask for more than that. We finished strong and it was a great way to end a successful season.”

“I have had a great time this season! The girls have been great and made it so much fun! I can’t wait for next season, even though I am going to miss our seniors!!” exclaimed Hickman.

Women’s tennis says farewell to two seniors: Erica Lukoski and Jamie Midyette. “The end of my senior season was great,” Lukoski said. “I am going to miss the team and tennis incredibly next year and feel so lucky to have been part of such a wonderful program for my four years at Swarthmore. I am proud to say that as seniors, Jamie and I hold a 38-2 centennial conference team record, having been Centennial Conference Champions twice and runners-up twice. Now that is impressive!”

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