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Genna Ford
Genna Ford
Posted: Mar 22, 2011

No. 11 Johns Hopkins narrowly bests No. 13 Chapman

Box Score

ORANGE, Calif. – The parade of top-ranked opponents visiting Orange came to a heartbreaking end as the Chapman University women's tennis team lost a tough match 5-4 to No. 11 Johns Hopkins University (Md.) at the Chapman Tennis Courts on Tuesday afternoon. JHU was the fifth top-25 team to visit No. 13-ranked Chapman at home this season. The Panthers posted a 3-2 mark in those matches.

Chapman (5-8) jumped out to a 2-1 lead thanks to doubles victories from second seed junior Melissa Boyer and sophomore Genna Ford and third seed freshmen Kelley Klebenow and Danielle Kaiden. Both pairs earned 8-6 wins over the Blue Jays' teams.

However, each of Chapman's top four seeds fell in singles play – all in straight sets – as Johns Hopkins took the match 5-4. The Panthers' only singles wins came from fifth seed Kaiden and sixth seed Ford. For the sophomore Ford, it was her team-high 13th victory of the year and she improved to 9-1 in her last 10 matches.

The Panthers have now faced eight of the top-ranked programs in Division III this season and will go on the road to face three more ranked opponents (No. 28 Redlands, No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 21 Claremont) before the regular season ends. Chapman is 3-5 in those matches this season.

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Over the weekend, Chapman won a pair of matches against SCIAC rivals Occidental and Whittier, both at home. The Panthers disposed of the Tigers by a score of 8-1 in Orange on Saturday and then defeated the Poets 7-2 that same afternoon.

Chapman 8, Occidental 1
The Panthers went a perfect 6-0 in singles play, all wins coming in straight sets. Senior Kelley Fox improved to 6-8 this season with a 6-0, 6-4 win from the No. 1 position.

Chapman 7, Whittier 2
Chapman won for the fourth time in its past five matches thanks to a doubles sweep and each of the Panthers' top four seeds earning singles victories. Fox won again in straight sets and Ford continued to roll, this time as the third seed, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director