Williams relied on strong singles play to capture its second straight NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championship May 21 at Olgethorpe.

Williams defeated Amherst, 5-2, in the final.

The Ephs, who finished year 21-2, registered back-to-back titles for the second time in program history.

Williams battled back from a 2-1 deficit after doubles play. Amherst’s Brittany Berckes and Natasha Brown downed Williams’ Nikki Reich and Cary Gibson, 8-3, at the No. 1 position and Laura Danzig and Jill Wexler combined to defeat Kristin Alotta and Annie Hancock, 8-2, at No. 3 doubles.

The Williams tandem of Taylor French and Grace Baljon generated the Ephs only doubles point of the match with an 8-1 victory over Anuja Ankola and Amelia Bell.

The Ephs also trailed early in five of the six singles matches but managed to turn the tide as the contests progressed. After falling behind in the first set at No. 3 singles, Reich worked to establish a 4-3 advantage and cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Amherst’s Wexler.

The Ephs’ Lucy Marchese posted a 6-4, 6-0 victory against Laken King at No. 5 singles, while Alotta went on to record her 25th straight win, beating Brown 7-5, 6-4. Junior Grace Baljon collected the Ephs’ singles win as she disposed of Berckes, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 1 singles to seal the championship for Williams.

“When Grace (Balojon), Nikki (Reich) and Lucy (Marchese) won their first sets you could feel the energy shift,” said Williams head coach Alison Swain. “I said to myself, ‘We’re OK, we can do this.’ I knew Kristin (Alotta) would win and I knew Cary and Annie would fight.”

With four championships to its credit, Williams, which also claimed the 2001 and 2002 team titles, trails Emory by one for the most Division III national titles.

In the individual portion of the championships, Emory’s Lorne McManigle claimed the Division III women’s singles title with a straight-sets victory over St. Scholastica’s Ploy Suthijindawong on May 24.

The fifth-seeded McManigle, the second individual champion in the program’s history, defeated the unseeded Suthijindawong, 6-1, 6-2.

The early portion of the first set was back-and-forth. However, McManigle surged ahead in the sixth game, breaking Suthijindawong twice to go on to claim the set. The sophomore maintained the momentum in the second set, winning five straight games to clinch the set, 6-1, as well as the match and title.

Suthijindawong, a freshman and the Saints first all-American, finished the season with a 23-3 record.

Chrissy Hu and Kendra Higgins of Chicago downed the No. 1 seeded duo, Pomona-Pitzer’s Siobhan Finicane and Olivia Muesse, to win the doubles title.

Hu and Higgins posted a convincing 6-2, 6-1, win to become the first doubles titlists in the program’s history. The tandem closed out the season with a 17-6 record.

Quarterfinals

Amherst 6, Gust. Adolphus 0; Chicago 5, Carnegie Mellon 0; Emory 5, Pomona-Pitzer 1; Williams 5, Denison 4.

Semifinals

Amherst 5, Chicago 4; Williams 5, Emory 0.

Third-place match

Emory 5, Chicago 1

Doubles: No. 1 -- Tshema Nash-Sabra Rogers, Emory, def. Kendra Higgins-Chrissy Hu, Chicago, 9-7; No. 2 -- Lorne McManigle-Zahra Dawson, Emory, def. Jennifer Kung-Vindya Dayananda, Chicago, 8-2; No. 3 -- Carmen VacaGuzman-Tiffany Nguyen, Chicago, def. Sara Vrabec-Daniela Schechter, Emory, 8-6.

Singles: No. 1 -- McManigle, Emory, vs. Higgins, Chicago, 6-7, 0-1 (did not finish); No. 2 -- Dawson, Emory, def. Kung, Chicago, 6-3, 6-3; No. 3 -- Nash, Emory, def. VacaGuzman, Chicago, 1-6, 3-2; No. 4 -- Lindsay Reidenbach, Emory, def. Hu, Chicago, 6-2, 6-0; No. 5 -- Schechter, Emory, def. Dayananda, Chicago, 6-0, 6-2; No. 6 -- Kirsten Hillock, Emory, vs. Aswini Krishnan, Chicago, 6-2, 3-3 (did not finish).

Championship

Williams 5, Amherst 2

Doubles: No. 1 -- Brittany Berckes-Natasha Brown, Amherst, def. Cary Gibson-Nicole Reich, Williams, 8-3; No. 2 -- Grace Baljon-Taylor French, Williams, def. Amelia Bell-Anuja Ankola, Amherst, 8-1; No. 3 -- Jill Wexler-Laura Danzig, Amherst, def. Annie Hancock-Kristin Alotta, Williams, 8-2.

Singles: No. 1 -- Berckes, Amherst, def. Baljon, Williams, 6-4, 6-3; No. 2 -- Carlissa King, Amherst, vs. Gibson, Williams, 6-3, 5-7 (did not finish); No. 3 -- Reich, Williams, def. Wexler, Amherst, 6-4, 6-3; No. 4 -- Alotta, Williams, def. Brown, Amherst, 7-5, 6-4; No. 5 -- Lucy Marchese, Williams, def. Laken King, Amherst, 6-4, 6-0; No. 6 -- Bell, Amherst, vs. Hancock, Williams, 7-6(6) (did not finish).

Individual results

First round: Siobhan Finicane, Pomona-Pitzer, def. Janelle Arita, DePauw, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3; Jackie Schtemberg, TCNJ, def. Kathryn Schmidt, Carleton, 6-0, 6-4; Katie Tabb, Wash. & Lee, def. Brittany Berckes, Amherst, 6-0, 6-1; Amanda Wu, Carnegie Mellon, def. Liz Lewis, Chapman, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Julia Browne, Tufts, def. Kalla Schaefer, Wis.-Whitewater, 6-3, 6-0; Grace Baljon, Williams, def. Kristin Cobb, Denison, 6-2, 6-0; Lorne McManigle, Emory, def. Rachel Miller, Redlands, 6-2, 6-2; Victoria Aiello, Middlebury, def. Jennifer Kung, Chicago, 6-2, 6-1; Leslie Hansen, MIT, def. Rachel Wallwork, Swarthmore, 6-3, 6-3; Sarah D’Elia, Bowdoin, def. Zahra Dawson, Emory, 6-4, 7-6; Paige Sumida, Redlands, def. Carlissa King, Amherst, 6-3, 6-2; Laura Chen, Carnegie Mellon, def. Jordan Hook, Wheaton (Ill.), 3-6, 6-0, 7-5; Ploy Suthijindawong, St. Scholastica, def. Ellen Yeatman, Wash. & Lee, 6-3, 6-2; Nicole Pontee, Vassar, def. Meghan Damico, Denison, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Katie Poetticker, Trinity (Tex.), def. Ariel Lewis, Oberlin, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2; Kendra Higgins, Chicago, def. Rebecca Morse-Karzen, Mary Washington, 6-1, 6-4.

Second round: Schtemberg, TCNJ, def. Finicane, Pomona-Pitzer, 7-5, 6-1; Wu, Carnegie Mellon, def. Tabb, Wash. & Lee, 3-6, 6-0, 6-0; Browne, Tufts, def. Baljon, Williams, 6-4, 7-5; McManigle, Emory, def. Aiello, Middlebury, 6-4, 6-2; D’Elia, Bowdoin, def. Hansen, MIT, 6-1, 6-3; Chen, Carnegie-Mellon, def. Sumida, Redlands, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3; Suthijindawong, St. Scholastica, def. Pontee, Vassar, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Higgins, Chicago, def. Poettcker, Trinity (Tex.), 6-1, 6-0.

Quarterfinals: Suthijindawong, St. Scholastica, def. Higgins, Chicago, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5); D’Elia, Bowdoin, def. Chen, Carnegie Mellon, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; Shtemberg, TCNJ, def. Wu, Carnegie Mellon, 6-2, 7-5; McManigle, Emory, def. Browne, Tufts, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3).

Semifinals: McManigle, Emory, def. Shtemberg, TCNJ, 7-5, 6-3; Suthijindawong, St. Scholastica, def. D’Elia, Bowdoin, 6-2, 6-3.

Championship: McManigle, Emory, def. Suthijindawong, St. Scholastica, 6-2, 6-1.

Doubles

First round: Siobhan Finicane-Olivie Muesse, Pomona-Pitzer, def. Tshema Nash-Sabra Rogers, Emory, 6-3, 6-4; Jordan Hook-Elizabeth Worsowicz, Wheaton (Ill.), def. Sarah D’Elia-Emily Lombardi, Bowdoin, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Katie Tabb-Lauren Carie, Wash. & Lee, def. Brittany Berckes-Natasha Brown, Amherst, 6-4, 6-2; Kristin Cobb-Marta Drane, Denison, def. Paige Sumida-Whitney Waters, Redlands, 6-1, 6-1; Chrissy Hu-Kendra Higgins, Chicago, def. Rebecca Morse-Karzen-Katherine Malpeli, Mary Washington, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; Greer Mackie-Kayla Smith, DePauw, def. Cary Gibson-Nikki Reich, Williams, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4; Laura Chen-Ashley Herrick, Carnegie Mellon, def. Molly Fiala-Andrea Schupach, Coe, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2; Julie Browne-Meghan McCooey, Tufts, def. Kelly Fox-Liz Lewis, Chapman, 7-6, 5-7, 7-6(5).

Quarterfinals: Finicane-Muesse, Pomona-Pitzer, def. Hook-Worsowicz, Wheaton (Ill.), 6-7(8), 6-1, 6-4; Chen-Herrick, Carnegie Mellon, def. McCooey-Browne, Tufts, 1-6, 6-4 CM, 6-3; Cobb-Drane, Denison, def. Tabb-Carie, Wash. & Lee, 6-2 DU, 3-6, 6-4; Hu-Higgins, Chicago, def. Mackie-Smith, DePauw, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(11);

Semifinals: Finicane-Muesse, Pomona-Pitzer, def. Cobb-Drane, Denison, 6-1, 6-3; Hu-Higgins, Chicago, def. Chen-Herrick, Carnegie Mellon, 6-1, 6-2.

Championship: Higgins-Hu, Chicago, def. Finicane-Muesse, Pomona-Pitzer, 6-1, 6-3.