The women's tennis team entered yesterday's match ranked fifth in the nation with a 10-0 cumulative record (fall and spring) and a 2-0 mark for the spring. But any hopes of an undefeated season vanished, as the Jumbos suffered a 6-3 setback at the hands of the nation's number four team, Amherst.
"This was just a very disappointing day," coach Jim Watson said. "We were done in by our failure to execute and our lack of patience."
The Jumbos' day seemed to be in trouble from the start. The Lady Jeffs' Rachel Holt and Tristan Hedrick took down the Jumbos' top doubles combination of senior co-captain Katie Nordstrom and sophomore Jen Lejb, 8-3. This was only the second time the two had played together since Lejb had been sick.
The number two doubles pair of junior Barclay Gang and sophomore Neda Pisheva did not fare much better against Amherst's Kristen Raverta and Hadley Miller. The two sides were going back and forth with the lead, before the Lord Jeffs pair rattled off three straight games to take the win, 8-4.
"Both Barclay and I didn't have our best games today," Pisheva said. "I kept making the same mistakes."
The lone Tufts doubles tandem to win consisted of senior co-captain Iffy Saeed and sophomore Ashley Weissman. The pair found themselves down 6-5 at one point, but fought back to defeat Amherst's Erin Murphy and Wallis Molchen, 8-6.
All in all though, Watson would have liked to see more positives out of the doubles play.
"We weren't aggressive enough," Watson said. "We can't win at doubles if we're passive and sitting back on our heels. We worked on it with them, but it just didn't translate into their play."
Though the Jumbos were down, they certainly were not out going into the singles matches. Saeed and Weissman's win had brought the score to a more manageable 2-1.
But the Jumbos day would not get a whole lot better. Tufts' top player, Lejb, who is ranked 24th nationally, lost to the seventh ranked player nationally, the Jeffs' Raverta, 6-1, 6-2. The trend continued, as the Jumbos number two and three fell as well. Freshman Rebecca Bram was defeated 6-2, 6-0 by Holt and Gang was downed 6-3, 6-2 by Hedrick.
The lone Jumbos singles wins came from their captains. Nordstrom triumphed 6-2, 6-3 and Saeed battled to a 7-5, 6-4 decision.
Watson felt his team could have risen to the competition better.
"We have been working at our games and trying to stay away from unforced errors so much," he said. "Against a team like this, we can't get away with unforced errors or not being aggressive. Wesleyan and Brandeis this Amherst team is not."
Tufts faced the Brandeis team Watson referred to on Friday. The team fared much better against the Judges as it pulled out a 7-2 victory.
Five of the six singles players were winners, highlighted by Saeed handing Brandeis' Sarah Zonenshine a 6-0, 6-0 sweep. In addition, Lejb upset the number ten singles player in the country, Jane Chae, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
The second and third doubles squads of Pisheva/Gang (8-2) and Saeed/Weissman(8-1), respectively, were successful. The one negative was the team of Nordstrom and Lejb, ranked eighth nationally in doubles, which fell to the Judges' Chae and Vera Chen.
"This was the first time Jen and I had played together in a long time," Nordstrom said. "But they fought real hard, and used the faster surface to their advantage. It really was just great to get this win."
While the Jumbos' National tournament and "Final Eight" hopes took a hit, they certainly are not dead. The squad will face much of the same competition it saw Tuesday at this Saturday's NESCAC tournament at Williams. The Jumbos finished second at the fall NESCAC tournament behind Amherst but ahead of fellow rival Williams.
The team's record now stands at 10-1, 2-1 on the spring.
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