Junior captain Lindsay Katz and sophomore Shelci Bowman led the women's tennis team to reaching the doubles quarterfinals this past weekend at the ITA New England Championships hosted by Bates. Unlike most of Tufts' matches, the focus at ITAs is on individual success, not team success.
"It's a chance for individuals to shine and get the opportunity to play other people," Katz said. "People get to play different players at different spots, which is exciting."
Even though the format is an individual tournament, the Jumbos still rallied around their teammates and aimed for team success.
"Obviously it's a little different because you're not playing for your team, but we approached it very similarly to a team match," sophomore Sam Gann said. "We were always cheering each other on and so it still felt like a team match in that sense because we were still all in it together."
Katz and Bowman beat Bowdoin'sChantalleLavertu and Emma Lewis in the round of 32, 8−4. They won again in the round of 16 against Elena Mandzhukova and Meg Anderson of Bates in a dominant 8−1 victory. The Jumbos ran into trouble, though, in the quarterfinals, where they faced Amherst's Jordan Brewer and Laura Danzig. After a hard−fought match, Katz and Bowman fell 8−5 to the eventual ITA champions.
"In doubles, we played pretty well," Katz said. "We got off to a pretty slow start in the last match. We were down 7−4, and we had the longest game to make it 7−5 but then couldn't finish it out. But we were right there with them the whole time."
Gann and junior Janice Lam also played doubles for the Jumbos in the tournament. After beating Wellesley in the first round, they lost to Bowdoin8−5 in the following round of play.
Katz was successful in singles play as well. She faced off against Colby's Sarah Wiener in the opening match, winning 6−2, 6−1. She followed this victory with a 6−0, 6−2 win over Springfield's Samantha Carney. Next up, she faced Williams' Kristin Alotta, the No. 6 seed in the singles bracket. Katz fell short in her upset bid against Williams' No. 1 player and was eliminated from the singles tournament, 6−2, 6−0.
"I did how I was expected to do so it wasn't a bad weekend for me," Katz said. "At the same time though, I definitely think I could have played better. I don't think I showed my capabilities completely."
Also in singles play, junior Lauren Hollender won her opening match, defeating Trinity's No. 1 player Hillary Hoyt, 7−6, 6−1. She was knocked out of the tournament in the next round though, losing to Bowdoin'sKellenAlberstone, the No. 2−overall seed, 6−2, 6−4. Gann, too, was dismissed by a Polar Bear in the second round; the sophomore fell to senior Emily Lombardi 6−3, 6−1. Lam and Bowman each lost their first−round matches.
"I felt like I could have definitely done a better job in my second singles match, but that being said, I know exactly what I need to work on to get where I want to be," Gann said. "It wasn't my best day but I am still proud of how I played and proud of the fight I had."
The Jumbos have two weeks off before heading to Amherst and Mount Holyoke for the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament on Homecoming weekend, the team's final event of the fall.
