The Pomona-Pitzer women’s tennis team marched south last weekend to test their mettle in the unfriendly confines of Cal Poly Pomona. Although hosted by Cal Poly, the tournament turned into the PP vs. CMS show. The eight PP women fought bravely and nobly for the greater glory of Sagehens worldwide. In the singles bracket, two Hens battled their way into the quarterfinals. Kelli Howard ’04 played two excellent matches before falling to Blair Rubenstein CMC ’01, who would go on to lose in the finals. In another part of the draw, Betsy Mork ’04 also advanced before falling to another member of the talented CMS squad.

In the other half of the singles draw, none of the Hens managed to make it out of the second round. Lorraine Salas PI ’04 had a bye and then fell to CMS’ Jirika Peterson ’03, the eventual singles champion, 6-2, 6-2. Vicki Chen ’04 also advanced to the second round where she faced Brook Calton CMC ’03. Despite a heroic effort in the first set, Chen fell 7-6, 6-1. Also in the singles, Kim Bretschneider ’04 was defeated in the second round by Chapman’s Amanda Zarr 6-3. 6-3.

The strength of this women’s team, however, clearly lay in the doubles portion of the tournament. Howard and partner Whitney Henderson ’04 put in a gutsy performance and enjoyed the bittersweet taste of revenge in the quarterfinals against CMS’ Leshya Wig CMC ’03and Becca Dutton CMC ’03. Dutton had knocked off Mork in the quarterfinals of the singles, and Wig had defeated Henderson in the opening round.

As that match was being decided, another Sagehen-Athena showdown loomed. PP’s Salas and Seidel played a tough and talented combo of Peterson and Lea Crusey CMC ’03. The two sides played evenly, forcing a decisive tiebreaker after the sixteenth game of the set. For the uninitiated, a tiebreaker is a game to seven, with one side serving one point first, and then exchanging serves on a two-point basis. In addition, the teams have to win by two points. Mistress Fate, however, in her infinite wisdom deemed to withhold victory from her most precious children, and the Athenas prevailed 7-4.

As the first day of competition came to a close, however, the Hens tallied up one more victory: Howard and Henderson coolly and confidently dispatching their opponents 8-2. After a long day, the sun set, postponing further competition, as tennis may not be played in the dark. At the end of day one, the Hens still had two Xena Warrior Princessque tennis players standing, the weight of Pomona-Pitzer Pride on their shoulders. In the immortal words of some guy, "they had not yet begun to fight."

While the rest of the student body slept off another endless night of unimpeded drunken revelry, these Gladiatrixes once again strutted boldly into enemy territory, their racquets held aloft like Excalibur gleaming from the satin-covered hands of the Lady of the Lake.

In their first match on Sunday, they easily advanced over their semi-final opponents from Chapman 8-4.

Mistress Fortune is a fleeting lover. One day she envelops you in her bodily warmth, the next day she leaves you cold and shivering. This is what was ordained for the CMS heathens. But there is another with the ability to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. Lady Luck is as steady as a ship at anchor in the Thames, and indeed, she had smiled upon the Athenas, and frowned upon her more pious and excellent children the Sagehens.

But alas! It was as Lady Luck would have it. The Athenas had also progressed through the other half of the draw; defeating PP’s other doubles team of Mork and Chelsea Heller ’04 and setting up a semifinal match against Howard and Henderson. "As far as CMS is concerned, the rivalry just keeps on getting bigger and bigger… the draw just kept pitting us against each other," exclaimed Howard.

Having exchanged blows throughout the tournament, these historic rivals had one more chance to claim bragging rights in their petite suburban ville. In one of the most exciting and hotly contested matches of the tournament, the dynamic duo of Howard and Henderson played admirably, but it was to be CMS who would have the last laugh. As in the singles portion of the tournament, the play of Rubenstein was overwhelming, and the Hens were defeated 8-6 in a hard-fought match underneath the blistering afternoon sun.

In only the second tournament of their careers, the four freshmen who competed in the doubles proved that they are a force to be reckoned with now, and will instill fear and trepidation in their opponents for many a year to come. "We have a lot of young people on the team," said Howard, "and our performance really proved we could compete and play at and above their level."