The good news for the women's tennis team is that it finished the year as the 11th ranked team in the country after going 11-3 (spring and fall seasons combined). But now the squad has the pressure of living up to the hype it created last year.
Making the situation easier, however, is the fact that only one senior, Erika Lee, was lost to graduation.
Senior co-captain Katie Nordstrom, who has been rotated in and out of the number one position on the team since freshman year, will once again lead the team. Although the nationally ranked Nordstrom has played excellent tennis her entire career, she still has something to prove after playing as number three in last season's New England Invitational, where she placed third, losing to Kate Troy of Williams in the semifinals.
Joining Nordstrom as one of the team's leaders is sophomore Jennifer Lejb, who finished the season placing second in the New England Invitational as Tufts number one player.
Other rising sophomores contributed to last year's success, including Heidi Kashani and Neda Pisheva. Kashani finished the season as the number four player on the team and earned the top seed at the New England Invitational before losing in the quarterfinals.
Pisheva and sophomore Trina Spears alternated competing as the number six player for most of the season before Pisheva emerged as the representative for the New England Invitational. After being seeded third, Pisheva battled to the semifinals before eventual champion Heather Cole of Amherst defeated her.
Senior co-captain Iffy Saeed prospered as the squad's number five player last season but lost to Jasmine Bradley of Williams, in the finals of the New England Invitational.
Coach Jim Watson will be looking for big things of Saeed during her senior season as points that Saeed racks up in the fifth spot are just as important as points that her teammates might rack up in the one through four positions. For her play last season, Saeed was named to the All-NESCAC team.
Joining Saeed as All-NESCAC performers was Spear, who dominating the conference's number six players. Although she did not play as the team's number six in the New England Invitational, Spears fought to earn an All-Conference selection through the "B" division.
An often-overlooked ingredient of a team's success is doubles play. In the NESCAC Tournament last fall, Pisheva teamed with was junior Barclay Gang to snag second place in the "B" doubles to earn All-NESCAC honors.
If the team hopes to improve upon last year's success, the squad must dethrone back-to-back NESCAC champion Williams. With a core of returning players, this could be the year that the Jumbos finally overtake the Ephs.
