The NCAA Tournament marked the culmination of an already successful season for the women's tennis team, as Tufts qualified for the tourney for the eighth straight year. The Jumbos easily advanced past Roger Williams in the first round before finding themselves on the wrong side of a 5-4 heartbreaker against Wellesley.
Tufts went into the second round of the tourney looking to avenge a 7-2 loss to Wellesley on April 18. This time, the Jumbos found themselves in a much tighter match. Tufts fell at first doubles but nabbed a victory at third doubles by a score of 8-3, as freshmen Julia Browne and Edwina Stewart finished off a perfect season as a pair, going 10-0 on the doubles court.
"Edwina and Julia played flawless doubles at three," coach Kate Bayard said.
With the score tied 1-1, only second doubles remained on the court, as sophomores Erica Miller and Meghan McCooey played in arguably the most exciting doubles match of Tufts' season. The duo was in a hole, down 7-5 in the eight-game pro set, but with the entire team looking on, the Jumbos won four straight games to take a 9-7 victory.
"Erica and Meghan played gutsy tennis," Bayard said. "They won it because they trusted their shots at net and played aggressively. They continued to play smart but they went for their shots."
"They had a huge win," sophomore co-captain Laura Hoguet said. "After the match everybody was so pumped up, and we had really big momentum to carry into singles."
In the April match against Wellesley, Tufts was swept in the three doubles matches and went into singles just two points from a loss. This time around, the result at second doubles gave Tufts the coveted edge entering singles play.
Only four singles matches were played at a time due to limited court availability, so Tufts sent out its top four singles players to try to seal the match. McCooey ended her No. 2 singles match first, easily handling her opponent 6-0, 6-1 and giving Tufts a 3-1 lead. Senior co-captain Andrea Cenko was next off, falling at fourth singles and bringing the match score to 3-2.
At first singles, Browne defeated the No. 22-ranked woman in Div. III, Wellesley junior Jenna Mezin, putting Tufts just a point from victory with three matches to play.
But Tufts could not close the deal. In a hard-fought match at third singles, Miller fell 7-5 in the first set before dominating the second 6-1. In the decisive third set, Miller could not pull out her second win of the day, losing the set 6-3.
With Tufts up by a slim margin, 4-3, Wellesley managed to win at No. 5 and No. 6 singles to advance to the third round of the tournament.
"It was just one of those great sports moments," Bayard said. "Both teams put it on the line and unfortunately it didn't go our way, but our team played with a lot of heart."
Before falling to the No. 9-ranked team in Div. III, the Jumbos adjusted to host Williams' courts by demolishing the 15-1 Roger Williams Hawks by a score of 5-0 in the first round of the tournament. The remaining four matches were not played out since the result had already been decided, but Tufts appeared to be in control of all nine matches.
"It was good for our confidence," Bayard said. "The girls definitely didn't take Roger Williams lightly and they practiced mental focus in that match. We have been working on closing games better, and that gave them a chance to use it in a match situation before playing Wellesley."
Although the Jumbos were unable to take home the win against their non-conference rival, they did feel that the team had improved dramatically in confidence level and awareness on the court since the beginning of the season.
"We got our act together and all grew as a team," junior Mari Homma said. "It was really nice to go to Nationals. We went through a lot this year, but we really united as a team with the seven of us."
Despite losing several players from the fall and having a downsized roster, Bayard was happy with the improvement of her squad, especially in the doubles realm.
"We worked a lot on awareness, knowing where opponents are and choosing our shots accordingly," she said. "The key is that the team showed real willingness to try new things on the doubles court and we learned a lot and it showed by the end."
The tournament was actually not the last stint of play for the top two Tufts singles players, as McCooey and Browne were both given bids to the NCAA Div. III individual championships held in Saint Peter, Minn. The event kicked off on May 16, but results were not available by press time.
McCooey went into the individual tournament riding a 20-7 season record playing at both first and second singles for Tufts, and both she and Bayard believe that she is ready for the challenge.
"There have been a lot of matches in the spring, and we have been playing so much tennis," McCooey said. "I think because of that, I have been getting better throughout the season."
"Meghan had a huge breakthrough about halfway through the season in the Amherst match and has continued to get even tougher since then," Bayard added.
In just her first year of collegiate tennis, Browne has compiled a 15-6 record. She was the only freshman named to the All-NESCAC team, garnering Second Team honors as well as the conference's Rookie of the Year award. On May 12, she was also named the Northeast Region Rookie of the Year.
"Both Meghan and Julia have become more confident with their overall attacking games in singles," Bayard said. "They not only have all the tools but they have proven they are able to put it all together and execute against any type of player. Both of them have what it takes to beat anyone in this tournament."
