It was the Jen Luten Show this weekend, as the sophomore led theJumbos to a second place showing at the New EnglandChampionships.
Luten, playing in the top flights for both singles and doubles,won the first singles flight without losing a set and partneredwith classmate Kylyn Deary to take home the first doubles flight aswell.
"I've never won a major tournament in college," Luten said. "Andit's a big honor."
This weekend's tournament at Amherst closed out a successful,but at times frustrating, fall campaign.
Tufts finished the fall at 6-2 overall (4-1 NESCAC), but wasoften hampered by both injury and the absence of players studyingabroad.
The fall's prime injury concern was senior tri-captain Jen Lejb,who was slowed by a chronic leg condition.
Lejb was able to persevere this weekend, as she drove to thefinals of both the second singles and doubles flights.
In her singles final, however, Lejb retired after losing herfirst set 7-6 (2) and falling behind 1-0 in the second toMiddlebury's Amy Roche.
Retiring after falling behind in the singles final meant thatLejb would be fresh for the doubles final, where she paired withher classmate and fellow tri-captain Neda Pisheva. Lejb gained ameasure of revenge, as the veteran pair downed Roche and partnerAmanda Burke.
While the win over the Panther duo helped secure a second placefinish in the field of 22, Tufts did not have quite enough toovercome Middlebury, who won the tournament with 37 points.
The Jumbos finished the meet with 32 points, barely edgingAmherst, who scored 30. Wellesley, who was the only team other thanMiddlebury to top Tufts in dual competition this fall, was furtherbehind in fourth with 20 points.
Williams, the 2003 tournament winner and 2004 NESCACCo-Champion, sported a depleted squad this season and finished adisappointing fifth.
Lejb was confronted with some unfamiliar competition in herdrive to the singles final. She bested Jessica Manners of RogerWilliams 6-1, 6-0 in her first match before downing AleksandraMihailovic of Mount Holyoke 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Abby Lerner forced Lejb into a third set in the semifinalsbefore the Jumbo prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 6-1.
Teaming with Pisheva in the second doubles flight, the two tookout teams from Springfield and Salve Regina in the opening rounds,not letting any match get closer than 8-4.
They gained a measure of revenge against Esther Handy ofWellesley, who defeated them earlier this season, by dropping herand partner Kirsi Hakkinen 8-5 in the quarterfinals. They then gotthrough Amherst's number two duo (8-2) before slugging it out withRoche and Burke to a 9-7 win in the final.
Luten, in the first singles flight, picked up her second win ofthe season against both Jenna Mezin of Wellesley and Lauren Kemp ofSmith in opening round action. She moved on to less familiarcompetition without much trouble, as she closed the door onWheaton's Ashley Kriwinsky 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals. Luten's winin the final came in runaway fashion, with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing ofBowdoin's Kelsey Hughes.
The sophomore standout credits the ability to stay poised andhave faith in her game to her singles success.
"I was really confident," Luten said. "This makes me want towork harder and get to Nationals."
Deary, after a painful three-set loss in the first round of thethird singles flight, provided plenty of energy as she and Lutengot through the first doubles flight with little trouble.
They defeated Amherst's top duo before taking down Diana Dreyfusand Britt Olwine of Trinity for the second time in a week, thistime 8-2 in the quarterfinals. Luten picked up her second win ofthe tournament against Smith's Kemp, as she and Deary grabbed theirsecond win of the season over Kemp and Talia Williams 8-0 in thesemifinals.
"Doubles is something I really wanted," Luten said. "Kylyn and Ihave worked really hard."
In the final, the revenge theme reared its head once again, asthe Tufts sophomore duo took on Claire Smyser and Jackie Ross ofMiddlebury (8-2), a partnership they fell to earlier in theseason.
Ross was not totally embarrassed by Tufts this weekend, as shewas able to top senior tri-captain Trina Spear in the quarterfinalsof the fourth singles flight, but not before Spear picked up twobig wins.
Spear was also strong in the third doubles flight, winning twomatches with classmate Ashley Weisman to drive to thequarterfinals.
Rounding out the singles action for Tufts, freshman LaniAckerman and sophomore Stephanie Ruley both played their ways intothe semifinals.
The second place finish in the extremely competitive New EnglandChampionships was an improvement over last year for Tufts, when itfinished behind both Williams and Amherst.
The team's success in both singles and doubles this weekend endsthe fall season on a high note, making frustrating back-to-backlosses to Middlebury and Wellesley early this month seem only likea bump in the road in hindsight.
With added experience under their belts and the return of juniorBecky Bram next semester, expect big things out of Eng's Jumbos,for whom Williams, Amherst and the NESCAC Championships lie aheadin the spring.
