Women's Tennis 5/13/2016 10:50:00 AM

Jays fall to No. 13 Johns Hopkins in NCAA Tournament Second Round

Results

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Elizabethtown's exceptional 2015-16 season came to an end Friday morning, with No. 13 Johns Hopkins collecting a 5-0 win in an NCAA Division III Tournament Second Round match at Middlebury College's Proctor Tennis Courts.

Coach Matt Helsel's team came within one victory of matching a program record 14-match winning streak after yesterday's opening round triumph over Penn State Behrend –the team's third win in the national tournament all-time.

In the first meeting between the two schools nicknamed Blue Jays since the 2010 NCAA Tournament, nationally-ranked Hopkins took control early.

Jody Law and Caroline Greydak claimed an 8-0 win at third doubles, while the regionally-ranked (No. 7) pairing of Ashnaa Rao and Mikey Barthelmass did the same at first doubles. Elizabethtown (16-4) senior Lauren Berry and sophomore Sam Procak took two games off Megumi Chen and Sunaina Vohra at second doubles, before suffering an 8-2 defeat.

Hopkins (18-4) brought the No. 13 ranking in the Oracle/ITA Division III National Rankings and the No. 4 ranking in the ITA Atlantic South Region into Friday's match. The Baltimore-based Blue Jays certainly played like a team befitting of those accolades.

Vohra got past Berry 6-0, 6-1 at third singles and Barthelmass defeated Laura Gribble 6-0, 6-1 at sixth singles to secure Hopkins' spot in Saturday's Sweet 16 match against the Middlebury/The College of New Jersey winner. JHU advanced to the Sweet 16 for the ninth straight season.

E-town, the two-time defending Landmark champion, made its seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and moved into the second round for the first time since 2013.

Four of the six singles matches Friday went unfinished, though Hopkins led by a set in all of them. Elizabethtown junior Taylor Helsel hung tough with Rao, the No. 1 ranked player in the Atlantic South Region and No. 2 overall player in Division III. Rao had to work for a 6-3 win in the first set, and only led the second 3-2 when the match was halted. Rao was recently selected to the NCAA Singles Championship field of 32.

Freshman Meghan Chemidlin won a game in her opening set at fifth singles against Kimberly Zou and captured two more in the second.

The E-town Blue Jays' 16-4 record matches that of last year's team. Elizabethtown has won 16 matches, which is tied for the third most in a season in team history, in three of the last four seasons. The Blue Jays are only expected to lose one player, senior Lauren Berry, from their lineup heading into next season. Berry won 81 matches over three seasons with the team. She finishes her career with a 40-12 singles record, a 41-11 doubles mark and was the MVP of the 2015 Landmark Women's Tennis Championship tournament.

#13 Johns Hopkins 5, Elizabethtown 0
May 13, 2016 at Middlebury, Vt. (Proctor Tennis Courts)

Singles competition

1. #2 Ashnaa Rao (JHU) vs. Taylor Helsel (ETOWN) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished

2. Jody Law (JHU) vs. Madison McCall (ETOWN) 6-0, 5-1, unfinished

3. Sunaina Vohra (JHU) def. Lauren Berry (ETOWN) 6-0, 6-1

4. Caroline Greydak (JHU) vs. Sam Procak (ETOWN) 6-0, 5-0, unfinished

5. Kimberly Zou (JHU) vs. Meghan Chemidlin (ETOWN) 6-1, 4-2, unfinished

6. Mikey Barthelmass (JHU) def. Laura Gribble (ETOWN) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition

1. Ashnaa Rao/Mikey Barthelmass (JHU) def. Taylor Helsel/Madison McCall (ETOWN) 8-0

2. Megumi Chen/Sunaina Vohra (JHU) def. Lauren Berry/Sam Procak (ETOWN) 8-2

3. Jody Law/Caroline Greydak (JHU) def. Meghan Chemidlin/Laura Gribble (ETOWN) 8-0

Match Notes

Elizabethtown 16-4

Johns Hopkins 18-4; National ranking #13; Regional ranking #4

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,6)

2016 NCAA Division III Tournament Second Round

Johns Hopkins advances to play winner of Middlebury/TCNJ on Saturday morning

Johns Hopkins ranked 13th in the Oracle/ITA National Rankings

Johns Hopkins ranked 4th in the ITA Atlantic South Region Rankings

T-2:05 A-52

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Lauren Berry: 5' 1"; Senior

Taylor Helsel: 5' 4"; Junior

Madison McCall: 5' 2"; Junior

Sam Procak: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Meghan Chemidlin: 5' 3"; Freshman

Laura Gribble: 5' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Lauren Berry
: 5' 1"; Senior

Taylor Helsel
: 5' 4"; Junior

Madison McCall
: 5' 2"; Junior

Sam Procak
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Meghan Chemidlin
: 5' 3"; Freshman

Laura Gribble
: 5' 3"; Freshman