"Be prepared to suffer out there, mentally, physically and emotionally."

Over the past few weeks that has become (thanks to Jacqueline Bagwell) the AWT pre-match mantra and thus far I have to admit this somewhat battle-imagery-invoking credo has proved successful. Since I last posted (I don't even want to think about how long it's been) we've defeated Williams and Middlebury on their courts and celebrated our last home match of the season with a 9-0 victory over Hamilton - a great way to honor our amazing seniors on their 'senior day'.  Though we are all appropriately happy with these successes, and the fact that we were undefeated in the spring, that means nothing now; NESCACs and NCAAs have remained our focus all season long, and now its time to make our efforts apparent.

Yesterday we played a tough Tufts team (haha, that gets me every time) but pulled out a solid 5-2 win.  Getting a 2-1 lead in the doubles proved pivotal as we went out to start singles. As has been the case all season long, Laken finished first with a win at number five and rejoined other members of the team to cheer from the benches.  Playing next to her all season has certainly been beneficial to me, as her nonchalant yet focused style of play motivates me to buckle down and "do work" without being distracted by my own emotions.  I was the next match to come off the court with a 6-3, 6-2 victory, and then I too rejoined the rest of AWT on the stands to cheer and hold out for one more victory to claim the match. Brittany had lost a tough match at number one, Jill and Carlissa had each split and were in the beginning of their second sets, and Natasha had just pulled out the first set in a tiebreaker and was up a break in the beginning of the second set. After another half hour or so Natasha won the consistency-battle at number four and, as matches in NESCACs are only played to decision, the rest of the team gathered on court to congratulate one another and let Jackie have the spotlight to convey her feelings on the match and what we'll need to do better against Williams in the finals the following day.

Following team dinner, the team came back to the motel and, being the model scholar-athletes we are, had a study party in the motel living room. Although between youtube videos, textsfromlastnight.com, videochatting the Brown family, and Amherst College gossip I'm not quite sure exactly how much work got accomplished, but I guess it's the thought that counts anyway.  Besides, what we did spend the majority of time talking about was, admittedly a matter of utmost importance to our own health and safety...SWINE FLU. In case you haven't heard, there's officially been a swine flu outbreak on the Amherst campus, prompting cancellation of parties and dinners, quarantines of infected or possibly-infected students, and flyers and hand sanitizers around every corner. Which, on a side note, reminds me: everyone buy stock in purell now; the Amherst administration and student body may singlehandedly ensure a huge profit this quarter.

So how does this affect us? Well, not that much.  After a few team members were checked before leaving on Friday night and determined healthy, we were on our way as planned without worry of transmitting the pandemic to other NESCAC institutions. However, yesterday while watching the men's team defeat Williams we discovered one noticeable change that had been made due to the outbreak: no handshakes. That's right, the Amherst tennis teams are not permitted to shake hands with their opponents all weekend long...so many jokes could easily be made at this point that I'm going to leave it up to your creativity to think of them and not type anything possibly inappropriate or offensive myself. However, our team song is now a toss-up between "Contagious" and "Can't Touch This".

Once I am out of Williamstown and again have reliable wireless Internet access I will hopefully be posting another entry entirely consisting of pictures taken throughout the season. But please don't hold me to that, because I'm running out of excuses for my tardy postings.  This post's excuse (courtesy of Jim Bell): I simply didn't want to give any other teams any locker room material before NESCACs. Thanks, dad.