To categorize the women's tennis team as dominant this fall would hardly do it justice. The Jumbos capped off an 8-0 fall season with a 9-0 win over Trinity on Saturday at Voute Courts. The match was the squad's fifth shutout this fall, and the third consecutive fall season in which they have ended with an unblemished record. The Bantams moved to 3-4 with the defeat.
Again, it was business as usual for a team that didn't lose a set all day. The Jumbos finished the fall dual season outscoring their opponents 66-6 in matches.
As opposed to the Wellesley match last Wednesday, Tufts had its whole regular lineup competing against Trinity.
Of the regulars in the six-player singles lineup, the most pleasant surprise has been the play of freshmen Jen Luten and Kylyn Deary. Luten, playing in the number three position, finished off an 8-0 season of her own as she polished off Trinity junior Britt Olwine 6-2, 6-1. Deary followed suit as she battled to a 6-2, 7-5 decision over Trinity freshman Maddy Ward. Deary stands at 8-0 as well.
"Kylyn and Jen have more than filled in for the seniors we lost from last year," sophomore Lisa Miller said. "They have met any goals our team could have had for them."
Senior co-captain Barclay Gang repeated those sentiments.
"For these freshmen not to have lost all season, it's just great to see some fresh new faces out on the court and doing well," she said.
Gang and Miller should not sell themselves short either. Miller, from the number five slot, breezed to a 6-0, 6-1 win that kept her in the ranks of the unbeaten (6-0 season, 22-6 career). Gang completed another strong dual season with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph that brought her to 5-1 for the year, 43-14 for her career.
"I felt great out there," Gang said. "Our whole team couldn't have come together any better either. We were just real pumped up from the start, and that carried us through the match just like it has all year."
Not to be overlooked are arguably the squads most talented players in number one junior Jen Lejb and number two sophomore Becky Bram. Lejb took advantage of the fact that Trinity was missing its number one player due to injury and triumphed in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) to finish with an identical record to Miller's (6-0). Bram's 6-4, 6-0 win brought her to 6-1 on the season and 23-9 on her career.
As has been the case all season, the singles success came on the heels of positive results in doubles. At number one, Lejb and Luten finished 5-1 after an 8-1 pounding. At number two, Tufts' longest running doubles team of Gang and junior Neda Pisheva won 8-4 to even themselves up at 2-2 for the year and 15-8 for their career together. Bram and Miller's 8-2 win from the number three slot made these sophomore stalwarts 4-0 together.
"Both for myself individually and us as a team, we just took care of business," Miller said. "It was nice to have this kind of momentum going in our last match of the season as we move into the New England's."
The New England Championships will be held from this Friday through Sunday at Amherst. Last fall, Tufts finished second out of 25 teams as Amherst came out on top and Williams came in third.
"We are right where we want to be going into next weekend," Gang said.
Miller feels that the team's health this year gives the Jumbos an advantage they haven't had in years past.
"The last couple seasons we have had injuries but still been able to play relatively well," she said. "It will help to have our full lineup going."
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