Women's Tennis | Loss to Bowdoin yields early Tufts exit from NESCAC tournament

Riding a three-game winning streak, the No. 27 women's tennis team entered the first round of Friday's NESCAC Tournament against No. 23 Bowdoin looking to pick up the victory and earn a date with Amherst in the semifinals. The fifth-seeded Jumbos fell short, however, as fourth-seeded Bowdoin triumphed, 6-3, at Williams College, which hosted the tournament. The Jumbos now await a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament, which will be played this weekend. "Everyone was really disappointed," senior captain Becky Bram said. "We had all hoped to get a shot at Amherst the next day," Bram said. Amherst went on to win the tournament. The regular-season fall contest between the Jumbos and Polar Bears also ended in a 6-3 Bowdoin win, and despite the return of juniors Kylyn Deary, Jen Luten, and Stephanie Ruley from abroad, Tufts failed to exact vengeance on the Polar Bears. (Deary is also a senior staff writer for the Daily sports department.) "It was definitely a tough loss because the score was so close," Bram said. "A lot of the close matches didn't go our way this time. It was definitely a disappointment and no one really expected it, especially since we lost by the same score and our team is so much stronger now." "Bowdoin is always a feisty team, and this was an important match for them," coach Kate Bayard added. "They went into this match with the confidence that they had beaten us earlier in the year. I'm sure they were focused on that, rather than on the fact that our lineup is different now. A victory is a victory." At No. 1 doubles, Bram and Luten overpowered Bowdoin freshman Sarah D'Elia and junior Kelsey Hughes, 8-2. The Polar Bears picked up the other doubles matches, as Ruley and Deary fell to junior Christine D'Elia and sophomore Kristen Raymond, 8-4, at the two spot. At No. 3, Bowdoin senior Kristina Sisk and freshman Rachel Waldman defeated Tufts sophomore Andrea Cenko and freshman Jessica Knez by the same 8-4 margin. Normally freshman Mari Homma joins Cenko play at No. 3, but Homma was absent from Friday's match. "Becky and Jen played another outstanding match at No. 1 doubles," Bayard said. "Our No. 2 and No. 3 teams played solid doubles, but Bowdoin capitalized on their opportunities better than we did." The squad's remaining two victories came from No. 2 and No. 4 singles. Bram bounced back after dropping the first set to Raymond and won 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2. At No. 3, Deary routed D'Elia, 6-2, 6-0. Tufts suffered close singles losses across the board, including two that went to three sets. At No. 1, Luten lost to D'Elia by a narrow 6-4, 7-6 (9) score. In the third slot, Hughes outlasted Ruley in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Waldman took the No. 5 match, 7-5, 6-4, against Jumbo junior Silvia Schmid, and Knez lost in a close match at No. 6, falling to Sisk, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3). "The match came down to a couple of points," Bayard said. "It was close; one team had to win and it was Bowdoin. We knew any match at NESCACs would be a fight, but we were going into this first round with confidence. It's tough to lose a match you know you're capable of winning; however, I'm sure Bowdoin would have felt the same way if we had beaten them. I'm happy with how hard we fought, but it clearly wasn't our day." On the surface it seemed that the Jumbos should have captured the match, not only based on the change in lineup from fall to spring but also based on Bowdoin's mediocre 7-7 record going into the tournament. "It's interesting because if you look back at Bowdoin's matches against other teams, they lost head-to-head to Connecticut College, who we beat, Bates, who we beat 9-0, and Wellesley, who we beat," Bram said. "If you look at it on paper, it would seem like an easy win for us." Tufts will find out on Tuesday whether it received a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Seven teams from the region will be invited to compete for the opportunity to qualify for the national tournament. "It's tough to say who will get in at this point," Bayard said. "There are a bunch of teams vying for the last few slots. Amherst, Williams and Middlebury are definitely going, and Wellesley probably fits into one of those definite slots." Tufts, Vassar, Bowdoin and the College of New Jersey are all on the bubble. In order to prepare for a potential bid, the squad will continue to train. "We will continue to focus on doubles skills and strategy, mental toughness and conditioning in practice," Bayard added. "We will be ready if we get this bid."