AMHERST, Mass. - The Bowdoin College women's tennis team saw their season come to an end in a heartbreaking 5-4 defeat to Tufts in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Amherst College. The Polar Bears won two of three doubles matches and led by a 4-1 score before Tufts rebounded to win the final four singles matches.

In doubles play, Bowdoin escaped with a 2-1 lead after dropping the top match to Tufts. The Jumbos pairing of Julia Browne and Meghan McCooey edged Sarah D'Elia and Emily Lombardi 8-4, for Tufts' only point. The Polar Bears rebounded with 8-3 and 8-6 wins at the twos and threes, with the pairing of Rachel Waldman with Charlotte Hitch cruising at two, and Elizabeth Pedowitz joining Hannah Hoerner to gut out a win at number three.

In singles action, the Jumbos and Polar Bears traded wins at numbers five and six to keep Bowdoin ahead 3-2. Polar Bear Stephanie Langer defeated Jumbo Edwina Stewar 6-3, 6-2 at number five, while Tufts' Mari Homma toppled Hoerner 6-3, 6-3 at number six. Shortly after, Bowdoin's D'Elia put the Polar Bears a single win away from the result with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Browne at number one.

With three matches still playing close, the Jumbos would need a sweep of the three points to keep their season alive. Tufts got one step closer as Jennifer LaCara topped Elizabeth Pedowitz 7-5, 6-2 at number four. The final two matches battled into third sets, and eventually tiebreakers on courts adjacent to one another.

On court three, Tufts' Erica Miller rallied after losing the first set 5-7, to send her bout with Rachel Waldman to a third set with a 6-4 second set win. In the third set tiebreaker, Miller edged Waldman 8-6 to tie the match 4-4. Just meters away, teammate Meghan McCooey completed her come-from-behind win over Emily Lombardi with a 7-0 third set tiebreaker effort. Lombardi took the first set in their match 6-3, before seeing McCooey in 6-2, 7-6 to steal the victory for Tufts.

With the result, Tufts advances to tomorrow's NCAA Third Round where they will face host Amherst College at 12 p.m. Bowdoin ends their season with a record of 9-9.

Tufts 5, Bowdoin 4
Doubles:
1) Browne/McCooey (T) def. D'Elia/Lombardi (B) 8-4
2) Hitch/Waldman (B) def. Lavet/Stewart (T) 8-3
3) Pedowitz/Hoerner (B) def. LaCara/Miller (T) 8-6

Singles:
1) Sarah D'Elia (B) def. Julia Browne (T) 6-4, 6-4
2) Meghan McCooey (T) def. Emily Lombardi (B)
3) Erica Miller (T) def. Rachel Waldman (B) 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
4) Jennifer LaCara (T) def. Elizabeth Pedowitz (B) 7-5, 6-2
5) Stephanie Langer (B) def. Edwina Stewart (T) 6-3, 6-2
6) Mari Homma (T) def. Hannah Hoerner (B) 6-3, 6-3