Bates (13-4), which entered the tournament as the fourth seed, will take on third-seeded and No. 14 nationally ranked Middlebury Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the third place match at the NESCAC Championships.

In their morning match against Amherst (6-7), the Bobcats swept a pair of matches. Senior co-captain Charlotte Cabot (Dover, Mass.) swept her opponent, Amherst's Katy Correia 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 11-8) at the No. 6 position. Sophomore Katie Bull (Sudbury, Mass.) took down Jenni Brown 3-0 (11-8, 11-6, 11-8) at the No. 8 position. 

Bates' top four players all won against their Purple & White opponents in four games. 

First-year Luca Polgar (Budapest, Hungary) dropped her first game against Kim Krayacich before turning things around and prevailing 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4) at the No. 1 position.

Sophomore Kristyna Alexova (Boskovice, Czech Republic) won her first two games before Rachel Ang managed to take game three. Alexova was unfazed, winning the fourth game to emerge with a 3-1 (11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-6) victory at the No. 2 position. 

 Fellow sophomore Vicky Arjoon (Georgetown, Guyana) faced a similar situation as Alexova, winning her first two games before dropping game three. She too won, beating Prya Sinha 3-1 (11-2, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6) at the No. 3 position.

First-year Eliza Dunham (New Haven, Conn.) split her first two games at the No. 4 position with Haley McAtee. Then she won a close game three by a count of 12-10 and clinched a 3-1 (11-4, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9) victory with another nail-biter in game four.

Sophomore Molly Brooks (Charlottesville, Va.) was the only Bobcat to see her match go the full five games on the day. After winning the first two games, Brooks dropped the next two, setting up a fifth and deciding game. She bounced back in style, winning the fifth game easily by a count of 11-3 to beat Mae Cromwell 3-2 (11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-3) at the No. 9 position.

The Bobcats ran into a buzzsaw in the semifinals against No. 3 nationally ranked and top-seeded Trinity. 

Only Polgar took a game against her opponent in the semifinals, defeating Trinity's top player, Anna Kimberley 11-9 in game three of their match at the number one position. But Kimberley won the match eventually by a count of 3-1 (11-4, 12-10, 9-11, 11-3) over Polgar.

Dunham also played quite well against her opponent from Trinity. She made Lakeesha Rarere fight for every point in a 3-0 (11-8, 12-10, 11-5) defeat.

Bull and Brooks, who both beat opponents from Trinity earlier in the year, faced different opponents this time around and didn't have the same success, dropping their matches at the No. 8 and 9 positions respectively. 

The loss to Trinity in the semifinals snaps a seven-match winning streak for Bates. They look to bounce back and secure third place Sunday when they take on Middlebury at 1:00 p.m. Bates fell at Middlebury in a heartbreaker, 5-4, during the regular season. 

No. 15 Bates 7, No. 18 Amherst 2 (NESCAC Championship Quarterfinals)
Feb. 4, 2017 at Amherst, Mass.

1. Luca Polgar (B) def. Kim Krayacich (A) 8-11, 11-8, 11-5, 11-4
2. Kristyna Alexova (B) def. Rachel Ang (A) 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-6
3. Vicky Arjoon (B) def. Priya Sinha (A) 11-2, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6
4. Eliza Dunham (B) def. Haley McAtee (A) 11-4, 3-11, 12-10, 11-9
5. Caroline Conway (A) def. Emma Dunn (B) 12-10, 11-6, 11-9
6. Charlotte Cabot (B) def. Katy Correia (A) 11-3, 11-4, 11-8
7. Jenna Finkelstein (A) def. Blair Weintraub (B) 11-4, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4
8. Katie Bull (B) def. Jenni Brown (A) 11-8, 11-6, 11-8
9. Molly Brooks (B) def. Mae Cromwell (A) 11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 8-11, 11-3

No. 3 Trinity 9, No. 15 Bates 0 (NESCAC Championship Semifinals)
Feb. 4, 2017 at Amherst, Mass.

1. Anna Kimberley (T) def. Luca Polgar (B) 11-4, 12-10, 9-11, 11-3
2. Vanessa Raj (T) def. Kristyna Alexova (B) 11-1, 11-6, 11-1
3. Salma Alam Eldin (T) def. Vicky Arjoon (B) 11-3, 11-3, 11-5
4. Lakeesha Rarere (T) def. Eliza Dunham (B) 11-8, 12-10, 11-5
5. Julia Le Coq (T) def. Emma Dunn (B) 11-3, 11-3, 11-3
6. Jennifer Haley (T) def. Charlotte Cabot (B) 11-3, 11-5, 11-8
7. Salma El Defrawy (T) def. Blair Weintraub (B) 11-9, 11-3, 11-3
8. Karolina Holinkova (T) def. Katie Bull (B) 11-2, 11-8, 11-3
9. Alexia Echeverria (T) def. Molly Brooks (B) 11-0, 11-3, 11-3