Brown's Camhi Narrowly Defeats Ree Ree Li in Decider

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Yale women's tennis team contested a hard-fought fifth-place match against Brown at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship on Saturday, but ultimately fell just short of claiming victory.  After splitting the first six points of the encounter at Cornell's Reis Tennis Center, Brown clinched the 4-3 win over the Bulldogs with a triumph at No. 3 singles. 

The match reached a tense stage almost immediately as the two teams battled for the doubles point.  After Brown's duo of Hannah Camhi and Maddie Stearns defeated the Yale tandem of junior Ree Ree Li and freshman Valerie Shklover 6-2, the Bulldogs responded with a 6-3 victory at No. 2 doubles, as freshman Carol Finke and sophomore Sherry Li overcame Alyza Benotto and Ashley Noyes.  The doubles point came down to the match at No. 1 doubles, and in what would prove a pivotal juncture, Brown's team of Dayna Lord and Ammu Mandalap recorded a tight 7-6(4) win over junior Courtney Amos and senior captain Hanna Yu.

Following the drama of doubles, the majority of the singles matches proved to be fairly straightforward affairs.  Shklover dropped just two games in a win over Noyes, while Finke and Yu also claimed straight-set victories over their respective opponents.  Meanwhile, Brown added to its point total with wins at No. 2 and No. 5 singles.  With the overall score tied at three points apiece, Camhi and Ree Ree Li had split sets and had entered a third and final set.  After a back-and-forth clash, Camhi stood strong in the final minutes to complete a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 triumph and seal the win for the Bears.

Full results from Yale's match against Brown can be found below.

The Bulldogs will now head home to face Florida International at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center at 11:00 a.m. on Monday.

Report by Robert Batista '15, Yale Sports Publicity

Singles

No. 1 Hanna Yu (Yale) def. Dayna Lord (Brown) 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Alyza Benotto (Brown) def. Courtney Amos (Yale) 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Hannah Camhi (Brown) def. Ree Ree Li (Yale) 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
No. 4 Carol Finke (Yale) def. Ammu Mandalap (Brown) 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 Maddie Stearns (Brown) def. Sherry Li (Yale) 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Valerie Shklover (Yale) def. Ashley Noyes (Brown) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles

No. 1 Ammu Mandalap/Dayna Lord (Brown) def. Hanna Yu/Courtney Amos (Yale) 7-6 (4)
No. 2 Sherry Li/Carol Finke (Yale) def. Ashley Noyes/Alyza Benotto (Brown) 6-3
No. 3 Hannah Camhi/Maddie Stearns (Brown) def. Ree Ree Li/Valerie Shklover (Yale) 6-2