CMS Athenas Finish Season Strong as 3rd in SCIACS

This past Saturday in an amazing feat, the CMS Athenas came back from a 3-0 deficit in doubles to sweep the 3rd place SCIACs title from the Occidental Tigers in a hair-raising turn of events with a final score of 5-4 for the Athenas. It was indeed a very exciting day in the final bracket fight for 3rd place. Both teams lost to either one of the top 2 teams, Pomona-Pitzer and University of Redlands, and were fated to face each other for a re-match from March, where the Athenas topped the Tigers 6-3. With that in mind, the Athenas entered Saturday's final conference match certain of victory until each doubles team found them at the feet of their Oxy opponents. The Tigers undoubtedly brought their absolute best game to the match and caught CMS off-guard. No one team amongst the Athenas were able to even come close to besting the Tigers. The doubles matches scores were 8-6, 8-5, and 8-4 successively. The Athenas did not know what hit them and left the courts stunned in a 3-0 disadvantage.

In transition to singles, the Athenas met for a serious reflection upon their losses. They could hear the joyful voices of the victorious Tigers in the background. Unanimously as a team, the Athenas knew they had to let go of the doubles losses and start fresh in singles. That's exactly what they did. 

Set after set, the Athenas took out the Tigers in the bottom 2/3 of the line-up. In straight sets, the #3-6 Athenas sweeped their opponents, while in the meantime, #1 Jaclyn Smrecek suffered a 6-3, 6-2 loss. Before anyone knew it, the match score was tied at 4-4. All eyes shifted to the second court where #2 Katie Lorish was battling senior Tiger Marissa Cassman, who was fiercely determined to win her last SCIACs match of her college career. Though Lorish won the first set 6-4, Cassman fought back hard and wiped out the Athena 6-0 in the second set. As both teams sat in anxious sweat in the third set, there were consistently a win on serve and a break of serve between the two women. Lorish found herself down 5-4 and faced 3 match points from deuce, but rallied back to tie the match 5-5. She turned it around and had the opportunity at 6-5 to seize the game, but failed to hold serve. The match went into a heated tie-breaker with points being won back and forth. Lorish was up 7-6, but disappointingly double-faulted. Just as the teams wondered if she hit a breakdown, she aces Cassman on the following point to gain another match point at 8-7. Lorish fought hard the next point and found the opportunity to hit a winner that gave her the victory in the closest match of the day. The Athenas ran to congratulate her and celebrate the glorious comeback victory (pictured at right). The final score was 5-4 for the Athenas. It was an incredible way to end the weekend.

The First Two SCIAC Matches:

The CMS Women's Tennis Team set off to Whittier early Friday morning for the start of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SCIAC) Championship Tournament. Entering as the 3^rd seed team, the CMS Athenas faced the Whittier College Poets in their first match of the draw. In doubles, the Athenas took victories in #2 and #3 positions. Hannah Gordon and Alle Hsu at #2 quickly swept their opponents 8-3. Emilee Feldhausen and Katie Lorish at #3 finished next with an easy win over Whittier 8-4. Unfortunately, #1 Jaclyn Smrecek and Riley Thomlison lost to their opponents in a heated battle with a score of 8-5. Once the Athenas were up 2-1, they only needed to win 3 singles matches to complete the match. Due to time constraint, the entire match ended once a team reached 5 wins. Players still in session must stop their match.

In singles, the Athenas dominated quickly. #4 Riley Thomlison was first to finish when she demolished her opponent 6-0, 6-0. Next up, #3 Alle Hsu cut her opponent off from any hopes of winning in a 6-2, 6-0 blowout. To wrap up the match, #1 Jaclyn Smrecek won the fifth point for the Athenas by knocking Whittier's #1, Kady Oliker, out 6-4, 6-1. The rest of the matches were unfinished and the Athenas won over the Poets 5-1. With this victory on their belt, the Athenas moved on to play the Univ. of Redlands Bulldogs in the 2^nd round.

Immediately following the match against Whittier, the Athenas were due to play against the Bulldogs in the afternoon. Though the Athenas were unable to defeat the #20 nationally ranked team, CMS definitely played their best in doubles to make Redlands work for their 7-2 victory. #5 Alle Hsu conquered in great form and won the Athenas their only singles victory in straight sets: 6-3, 6-1. Although the Athenas lost decisively in singles to Redlands, the doubles matches were nervewrecking to watch. #1 Jaclyn Smrecek and Riley Thomlison lost 8-3 to the nationally ranked at #5 dynamic duo: Whitney Waters and Paige Sumida. On Court 2, #2 Alle Hsu and Hannah Gordon were at one point up 6-4, but let up a couple games and found themselves at 7-7 right before the bulldogs rallied back to win 9-7. #3 Emilee Feldhausen and Katie Lorish played their personal best this season as they conquered Redlands in an 8-4 decisive win. The Athenas, though defeated at the end of the day, were proud of their accomplishments in refusing to lose again to Redlands 9-0. The final score was 7-2 for Redlands.