The World Tennis Tournament (WTT) was held right in our own backyard last weekend. Originally intended to be a two-day tournament, the first day of competition was cancelled due to so-called "inclement weather." That is the fancy term for what the rest of us call "rain." Tennis players in general tend to be a prissy lot. They do not play in the rain. The weather did clear up enough by Sunday for the tournament to continue. Apparently, days that are overcast and cold do not count as "inclement weather." Just rain. The WTT brought celebrities from all over the country, including tennis great Billie Jean King, and certain sports writers from notable college newspapers.

The WTT is a unique tournament. In this format, two schools play five sets of four games each. The total game scores are added up to determine the winner. The best team in each bracket then plays the best team from a different bracket, the second best team plays the second best team from the other bracket, and so on. The sets consist of one men’s singles, one women’s singles, one men’s doubles, one women’s doubles, and one mixed doubles (one man and one woman per side). This is unique both in the scoring, and in the co-ed nature of the tournament. In addition, the schools represent various leagues, from Division III, Division II and Junior College leagues.

In the first round of the tournament, the Hens lost in lopsided fashion to a talented team from national number one Trinity College by a score of 20-9. J.R. Hall ’04, however, played an excellent set before falling in a tie breaker. The mixed doubles team of Samir Vora ’04 and Sheree Schwartz ’02 also stayed close to Trinity, losing 4-3. In the second round, however, the Hens were much more evenly matched, and excellent play all around brought them a narrow victory over Gustavus Adolphus 15-13. The doubles team of Vora and Hall contributed with a convincing 4-1 victory. In the third round, the Hens had another close match, squeaking by Marymount College 15-14. Once again, it was in the doubles that the Hens had their greatest success. The mixed doubles play of Vora and Schwartz proved to be the difference, as they won 4-1 in the last set of the competition to bring victory to the Hens. In their final round of play, the Hens were graced by the two greatest words in the English language–"de" and "fault." Auburn Montgomery College, fearing the wrath of Pomona-Pitzer’s might, opted not even to show. And it is fortunate that they did not, for the Hens would have whooped them soundly, I am assured.

"I think we did really well, because I mean, the only reason we got invited was because we were hosting. I think the guys’ teams and the girls’ teams played really well together. Sheree and I played really well together. [The team] was down 11-9 against Marymount and we played really well and pulled it out. It makes it a lot easier when you’re playing with last year’s national champion," said Vora. "I, for one, am really proud of our ninth place finish. I mean, we were playing with DII teams and they’re really good."

In addition to the play of Hall, Vora, and Schwartz, the Hens also benefited from the play of Betsy Mork ’04 and Kelli Howard ’04.