The women's tennis team took down Brandeis 8-1 Friday, closing out its dual fall season 2-1. With the loss, Brandeis moves to 0-1 in its only dual match of the fall season.
The Jumbos surged to a 3-0 lead after wins in all three doubles matches. Senior Shelci Bowman and freshman Alexa Meltzer beat Brandeis seniors Marissa Lazar and Ally Bernstein in the No. 1 doubles 8-4. True to head coach Kate Bayard's decision to mix up the doubles pairing and try different combinations, the pair played together for the first time in a competitive setting.
"Shelci is a very experienced doubles player," Meltzer said. "She taught me a lot of things during the match."
Bowman, who is regularly partnered with senior captain Samantha Gann, also valued the opportunity to play with Meltzer.
"[Gann] and I call ourselves 'the dream team' because we love playing together," Bowman told the Daily in an email. "I definitely missed Sam on the court, but playing with Alexa was so much fun. She's not just talented - she is so supportive ,which helped me relax and play confidently."
Meanwhile, Gann had an easy 8-2 win, as she was partnered with freshman Chelsea Hayashi against Brandeis' sophomore Maya Vasser and senior Alexa Katz at the No. 2 doubles spot. The first-year duo of Jacqueline Baum and Conner Calabro had the most challenging matchup at No. 3 doubles, but eventually topped junior Roberta Bergstein and sophomore Sarita Biswas of Brandeis 8-5.
Tufts continued its dominating play in singles with easy wins by Meltzer, Calabro and Hayashi in the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 singles, respectively. Calabro disposed of her opponent Katz without conceding a game, 6-0, 6-0; Hayashi lost just five games in her quick dismissal of Biswas 6-2, 6-3 and Meltzer cruised through with her 6-0, 6-4 win against Vasser.
The Judges' sole win came from sophomore Emily Eska at No. 6 singles, who fought a tough match against freshman Hanna Slutsky, coming back from a first set loss to win 4-6, 6-3, 10-5. Gann and Baum outlasted their opponents in two more closely contested matches at the No. 1 and No. 4 singles, respectively.
The Jumbos were coming off a tough loss to MIT earlier in the week and took that experience as an additional incentive to winning against Brandeis.
"I think the loss against MIT really motivated me to do whatever it took to win against Brandeis, and thankfully it paid off," Bowman said. "I think that we just need more match experience, and [the loss] definitely got us fired up."
Meltzer was a little more reserved when it came to comparing the victory against Brandeis with the loss against MIT, but she still acknowledged the importance of the win.
"The girl I played at MIT was a much better player than the girl I played at Brandeis," Meltzer said. "But I definitely think that we needed this win as a team, just for our confidence and our morale, especially going into our tournament at Amherst this coming weekend."
The Jumbos will close out their fall season with the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament hosted by Amherst from Oct. 18 to 20.
