While the rest of Tufts celebrates Homecoming weekend, tomorrow will be just another day at the office for the women's tennis team. Actually, it will be more like a business trip, as the team will spend its Homecoming Saturday at Bowdoin in a match against the Polar Bears.
The Jumbos will enjoy something of an abbreviated Homecoming when they host Middlebury on Sunday at noon, and the team will enjoy two wins just as much as any on-campus festivities.
"I haven't really heard anything from anybody about disappointment [over missing part of Homecoming weekend]," senior tri-captain Jennifer Lejb said. "We have our priorities."
The first order of business before heading to Brunswick, Maine, was to take care of non-conference MIT at home yesterday.
Without Lejb, who was resting a chronic leg condition, most of the team moved up a slot in the lineup. Even with a lineup that was not at full strength, the Jumbos managed to down the Engineers 6-3, moving to 4-0 (2-0 NESCAC) on the season.
With stiff conference competition in Bowdoin and Middlebury on the immediate horizon, coach Doug Eng certainly had his priorities straight in giving Lejb a day off.
"We have depth, so we can take out one of our top players, and we'll be fine," Eng said. "We'd rather have [Lejb] sit out so she can get more rest."
In the win, the team did pick up its first three individual losses of the year.
However, two of the three came in matches where a 10-point super tiebreaker was used in place of the third set, since the overall outcome was no longer in question because the Jumbos had clinched the win.
The Jumbos did not annihilate MIT - they simply did enough to win. With sophomores Jen Luten and Kylyn Deary moving to the top of the lineup, Tufts had more than enough stability to pick up the win, even shorthanded.
Despite a solid effort, Luten did pick up her first defeat of the season, falling to engineer freshman Serena Lin by a score of 3-6, 6-4, 10-4. Look for Luten, who finished second in last weekend's ITA Regional Championships, to have no problem bouncing back this weekend.
"I think [Luten's] opponent was very tough," Eng said. "[Luten] has big weapons, she's a big hitter, a big risk taker, and she was playing against someone who was a wall. And that's hard to play against."
Also falling was senior tri-captain Trina Spear, who, like Luten, fell victim to the super tiebreaker, losing to MIT junior co-captain Elaine Ni (3-6, 6-3, 10-4) at third singles. Both Spear and Luten seemed to have enough left in the tank to win a third set, had it been necessary.
The Jumbos' other loss came at third doubles, where MIT used its first singles player, Lin. Lin teamed with freshman Mariah Hoover to defeat Spear and senior classmate Tina Vu 8-4.
In other doubles action, Luten and Deary enjoyed continued success as the team's first doubles tandem, defeating Ni and freshman Jusleen Karve 8-1.
At second doubles, senior tri-captain Neda Pisheva teamed with classmate Ashley Weisman to dispatch engineer senior co-captain Jaclyn Cichon and sophomore partner Joanna MacKay.
Tufts did manage to sweep the singles matches that did not result in super tiebreakers. Deary dropped Cichon at second singles by a score of 6-3, 6-0. Weisman had similar success, defeating Hoover (6-1, 6-1) in her debut at sixth singles.
It took a second set tiebreaker for freshman Lani Ackerman to achieve victory, but she triumphed over engineer sophomore Emily Chen 6-1, 7-6 (3) at fourth singles.
Sophomore Stephanie Ruley, who nearly ruled the consolation bracket at ITA's, had an easy day, as her opponent, junior Jill Konowich, withdrew due to injury following Ruley's 6-0 win in the first set.
This weekend will be the team's biggest test of the fall, as they face two of the NESCAC's best in Bowdoin and Middlebury on back-to-back days. While yesterday's 6-3 outcome indicates a closer match than it actually was, the team will certainly have to be on top of its game if it hopes to remain undefeated come Sunday night.
"I think Bowdoin it a little stronger than MIT, so I expect a good match," Eng said. "We'll be 100 percent with [Lejb] back in the lineup."
"Middlebury I think is our toughest this [fall]," Lejb added. "I think it is going to be a challenge. They have very strong players."
And while their Homecoming will have to wait until Sunday, don't think that the members of the women's tennis team will not be enjoying themselves all weekend.
"Everyone wants to enjoy Homecoming, but we have fun with each other," Lejb said. "I don't feel like I'm missing
anything."
