The No. 17 women’s tennis team traveled to California over spring break to enjoy the warm weather and face off with Div. III competitors.The Jumbos played four matches in five days, winning the first two against Denison College and
La Verne University before falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and the University of Redlands. The team, comprised of first-years and sophomores, gained valuable experience that will help it when it returns to play on the east coast.
On Saturday, the Jumbos battled the No. 22 University of Redlands Bulldogs. Although Tufts won four out of its six singles matches, Redlands won all of the doubles matches to prevail 5-4.Sophomore Alexa Meltzer won her match in the No. 2 singles position by a score of 6-4, 6-0 over senior Ceara Sumida, while first-year Lauren Louks defeated junior Lauren Villanueva 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 3 singles position.Sophomores Chelsea Hayashi and Jacqueline Baum won their matches in the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions, respectively. Sophomore Conner Calabro played in the No. 1 singles position and lost a tough three-set match, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, to junior Natalie Etchegaray. The Jumbos’ doubles teams struggled against the Bulldogs, losing all three matches. Unlike the best two-out-of-three sets format for singles, the doubles matches were eight game pro-sets. Calabro and Louks played in the No. 1 doubles spot, Meltzer and first-year Zoe Miller competed in the second and Hayashi and Baum in the third.
“I don’t think it was that physically tough to play that many matches in a short amount of time, but it was mentally tough,” Louks said. “I think that these matches definitely helped us to prepare for the rest of the season.”
The day before, Tufts took on Claremont Mudd-Scripps, which is ranked fifth in the country.The Jumbos lost the match 9-0, but the score does not indicate the number of close matches that occurred. Meltzer lost her match in the No. 2 singles position in a 10-point tiebreaker, 10-4, after splitting the first two sets. Miller also pushed her opponent to the wire, losing 6-1, 7-6 (2). Finally, Hayashi and Baum lost 9-7 in their doubles match.
Tufts did not leave empty-handed however, as its first two matches of the trip resulted in wins. On Thursday, Tufts defeated La Verne (also ranked 17th in the country) by a score of 6-3.Calabro defeated junior Andrea Madrigal, the 14th-ranked singles player in Div. III, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 1 singles, and Louks defeated sophomore Lauren Torres 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
“In my singles match against La Verne I was very focused throughout the match and was focusing on the things I needed to improve upon in my previous singles match that I lost against Denison -- such as being more aggressive and waiting for the right shot to move in on,” Louks said. “I continued to focus on the same things in my singles matches against Claremont McKenna as well as against Redlands, but faced a really tough girl against Claremont McKenna.”
In doubles, Meltzer and Miller defeated their opponents in the No. 2 spot, 8-5. Hayashi and Baum also won by a score of 8-0.
“This was my first time playing competitive doubles with Alexa [Meltzer], and her team experience and motivational wisdom really boosted my confidence,” Miller said. “Our successes came when we played aggressively and utilized each of our different strengths.”
In the first match of the trip, Tufts defeated Denison in a close match, 5-4. The Jumbos won all three doubles matches, which propelled them to victory.
“I think that the team played much better in doubles in the beginning, which definitely contributed to our wins in the beginning,” Louks said.
In addition to playing, the team was able to relax. Four of the eight team members are from California, so the members were able to visit each others’ houses and spend time together.
“We mixed in some fun amongst the competitive matches to keep up high energy and positivity,” Miller said. “With a few beach days and a trip to the Indian Wells tennis tournament, everyone on the team was excited for each day and we had much to look forward to. There was a great balance of tennis and vacation that kept everyone happy.”
The team resumes its season on Friday at home against No. 26 Brandeis, and then travels to Colby on April 3 for its first NESCAC match of the season.
Tufts travels across country for spring break
Sophomore Jacqueline Baum has taken on a bigger role in her second year on the squad. Baum won her match against the University of Redlands on Saturday.
