The women’s tennis squad wrapped up its fall campaign with a solid performance this past weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Eastern Regional Championships.

The tournament, held at the University of Pennsylvania, provided the Bulldogs with stiff competition from tennis powerhouses such as Old Dominion and the University of Maryland. Three Eli singles players competed, with Margaret Purcell ’04 advancing to the fourth round. Purcell fell 6-2, 6-1 to eventual tournament winner Courtney Bergman of Harvard.

This weekend marked the first time Purcell and Bergman had met on the tennis court, despite their being league rivals.

“I had never played her before,” Purcell said. “I felt like I had a good match with her even though I did not win. She is a great player who won’t overpower you, but she is very consistent and very steady.”

In addition to Purcell’s success, Susie Hiniker ’03 notched one victory before being defeated by Maryland’s Delila Causevic, 6-3, 6-2, an eventual semifinalist. Andrea Goldberg ’02 also recorded a win before Emily Marker, another Maryland athlete, defeated her, 7-5, 6-2.

In light of the competition, Hiniker was pleased with Yale’s effort.

“I think everyone played well,” Hiniker said. “We faced a lot of strong competition, against a lot of top tennis schools we wouldn’t otherwise play.”

Yale also put forth a strong showing in doubles competition, with Hiniker and Goldberg besting James Madison, 8-1, and Syracuse, 8-6, before falling 8-3 to the College of William and Mary. The Bulldogs’ other doubles tandem, Stephanie White ’05 and Purcell, defeated the University of Connecticut (9-7) and Penn (8-6) in the qualifying round to earn a spot in the main draw, where they fell to Fordham (8-6).

Hiniker said that the added competition brought a new intensity to the team’s play.

“It gives us an opportunity to see what we can do, and I think we fared pretty well,” Hiniker said.

The tournament marks the end of the fall season, and Hiniker said the players are optimistic about their chances at an Ivy crown come spring.

“Overall, I think the fall went great for us,” Hiniker said. “We defeated Princeton, and I think we established ourselves as one of the three teams [along with Harvard and Penn] competing for the Ivy title in the spring. We improved with each event this fall.”