Stein shines as Amherst frosh

Laura Stein found herself with some rare free time and a few days to kill so, naturally, she headed for the nearest tennis court.

The former Camden Hills High School tennis star was watching little brother Peter win his match and help lead the Windjammers to a 5-0 victory in the Eastern Maine Class B team semifinals Saturday afternoon.

Stein, who won New England and Maine high school singles titles last year, just finished her freshman year at Amherst College and a solid first season of NCAA Division III varsity ball.

She helped her Lady Jeffs win their first New England Small College Athletic Conference title and advance to the NCAA semifinals for a third straight year and the seventh time in the last eight years.

“I couldn’t have been happier with the tennis, the academics and the social scene,” Stein said of her first college year. “Everything just fit perfectly and I had a great all-around year.”

Stein was the seventh-seeded singles player on the team and half of Amherst’s No. 3 doubles team. The top six singles players and three doubles teams play in all matches and score in the NCAA ranks.

“We went 8-3 in the regular season and we won through the first two rounds of the playoffs,” Stein said. “We [Stein and doubles partner Erin Murphy] went through the NESCAC tournament undefeated, and then we [Amherst] were seeded first at regionals, and won all those, and then we went to the final eight in Kalamazoo, Mich., where we lost all three matches.”

The Lady Jeffs’ run was ended a second straight season by Emory College, which beat Amherst in the national championship match last season. Amherst made its 11th straight NCAA tourney appearance despite losing one of its top singles players, a freshman who tore her anterior cruciate ligament during the fall season.

Stein, who played as the No. 5 singles player in the fall season and started the spring season as the No. 6 singles player, wasn’t disappointed to play most of the season on doubles.

“I’ve always loved to play doubles and I work a lot on my volley game, so that’s where I feel most comfortable,” said the Rockport native. “Even if I’m playing singles, I would still want to play doubles. too.”

Stein, who is undecided on her major, is the third member of her family to attend Amherst. She follows father Rob and older sister Rebecca. She won’t be the last, however, as Peter is following his older sister there, and he’s leaning toward trying out for the men’s tennis team.

Stein’s free time will be drying up very soon as she’s travelling to Washington, D.C., for a summer as an intern for Octagon, a sports marketing firm.

“I’ll be in their tennis department, preparing for the U.S. Open, writing player bios and press releases,” she said. “I’ll be living on the Georgetown campus and working out there, and hopefully playing in some local tournaments.”