When the women's tennis team kicks off its spring season next week, the Jumbos will put a reworked doubles game to the test in the first dual matches of 2007.
With the last tournament of the fall season behind them and the spring season five months ahead, the members of the women's tennis team have many reasons to celebrate. The Jumbos went 4-0 this season in dual matches, and they never lost more than two matches to any single opponent.
With hours and hours of practice and victories in all four dual meets and ITA Regionals under its belt, the women's tennis team turns its attention to the New England Championships (NEWITTS) this weekend.
In a match that was much closer than the score reflected, the Jumbos came together during singles play to pull out a decisive win 7-2 victory over NYU on Saturday.
On a beautiful night on the tennis courts on Professor's Row, the women's tennis team dominated the Engineers of MIT, 8-1. The Jumbos won two of three doubles bouts and swept MIT in all six of the singles matches.
The women's tennis team flexed its veteran muscles and flashed its young talent in the ITA Regional Tournament over the weekend.
Three rookies won their first collegiate matches as the women's tennis team pounded Smith in its season opener, sweeping the singles play en route to an 8-1 win.
After a 5-4 loss to the Bowdoin Polar Bears in the first round of NCAA Regionals ended a disappointingly short playoff run last spring, the women's tennis team is ready to shake off its ghosts and gear up for 2006. And they have all the tools to do it.
The women's tennis team now has a legitimate beef with Bowdoin.
If the women's tennis team were to write a list of goals for next season, beating NESCAC-rival Bowdoin would have to be close to the top.
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."
The women's tennis team extended its winning streak to three matches on Wednesday as No. 27 Tufts handily upset the No. 12 Wellesley Blue 8-1 in Wellesley, Mass.
On the heels of Tuesday's NESCAC victory over Conn. College, the women's tennis team traveled to unranked Bates hoping to reinforce its chances of qualifying for the NCAA Regional Tournament.
After a close 5-4 loss to No. 8 Williams last Thursday, the No. 27 women's tennis team successfully defended its home court with a solid 6-3 performance against the No. 22 Connecticut College Camels on Tuesday.
The women's tennis team entered Tuesday's match at No. 3 Amherst looking for both a big upset against a top opponent and an all-important NESCAC win.
Tuesday's rain did not dampen the women's tennis team's winning efforts, as the No. 27 Jumbos topped the Brandeis Judges 6-3 inside the Gantcher Center.
The women's tennis team, ranked 27th in the country, entered the weekend looking to pick up victories over highly ranked opponents and jumpstart the second half of its season.
The women's tennis team looks to improve on its 5-2 fall record this spring, and the cavalry's coming back from Europe to help it do so.
This past weekend the women's tennis team ended its fall season at the New England Championships at Amherst College. Rain once again drove play indoors, and matches were separated to three different playing locations. However, the Tufts team played well, with five out of six singles players and all three doubles teams advancing beyond the first round. The New England Championships divides players into six flights for singles and three flights for doubles. A draw is formed within each flight, with points being awarded for each round advanced. The team that finishes with the most total points wins the tournament. Tufts finished eighth out of 22 teams with thirteen total points. "In terms of players, we played really well," freshman Jessica Knez said. "But our overall results weren't as good as we had hoped." This may have been due to a tough draw received by the Jumbos. Even though only one Jumbo, Elyse Piker, advanced past the quarterfinals, six out of nine Jumbo players lost to the eventual champion or eventual runner-up. Senior co-captain Becky Bram played in the first flight of singles. Bram breezed by junior Jaime Weiss of Wheaton in the first round (6-0, 6-0) before succumbing to the eventual champion, junior Beret Remak of Connecticut College (6-1, 7-5.) The top doubles team of Bram and Knez advanced two rounds, beating sophomore Caitlyn Leone and freshman Christina Consoles from Roger Williams (8-2) and the Colby tandem of junior Tracy Nale and senior Ginny Raho (9-7). Knez, playing in the second flight, advanced to the quarterfinals after a first-round bye and a second-round victory over freshman Ania Preneta of Wesleyan (6-3, 7-6 (3)). Her tournament ended there, however, in a loss (6-3, 6-3) to Amherst sophomore Monica Snyder. Piker advanced the furthest of any Jumbo, reaching the semifinals of the sixth singles flight. She defeated Colby freshman Nicole Veilleux, MIT junior Joanna Mackay, and Trinity junior Lindsay Ruslander, before finally falling to freshman Rachel Waldman of Bowdoin (6-2, 6-4). Rounding out the rest of the Jumbos were sophomore Lani Ackerman advancing to the quarterfinals, junior Andrea Cenko advancing one round and sophomore Megan Gentzler falling in the first round. The other doubles teams also had some success. Both Cenko and freshman Mari Homma and Gentzler and junior Silvia Schmid advanced one round, in the second and third flights, respectively. "The team did awesome; everyone did really well," said Bram. "I was really impressed by how the whole weekend turned out." This tournament marks the end of the fall season for the women's tennis team. The team, missing several key players who are studying abroad, played extremely well with the help of several key underclassmen. Knez played third singles and second doubles most of the season before an injury to senior co-captain Lisa Miller forced her to step up to second singles and first doubles. Homma also played some singles matches as well as some second and third doubles. Gentzler spent a lot of time at fourth singles and consistently played doubles as well. Sophomores Ackerman and Cenko also made big contributions as the season wore on, especially after the injury to Miller. "We didn't really know what to expect [coming in]," said Gentzler. "But the season went really well. With the return of the three juniors who are currently abroad, and with the multitude of underclassman talent, the team has the potential to have a very strong spring season. Even with the success the team has enjoyed this fall, Knez has even higher expectations for the spring. "We're going to be much stronger in the spring with a lot more depth on the team," said Knez. "And I'm really excited for everyone to improve more over the winter."
Despite the challenges of playing inside due to rain and losing senior co-captain Lisa Miller to injury, the women's tennis team triumphed in a doubleheader against Trinity and NYU this past Saturday, beating the Bantams and the Bobcats, 6-2 and 6-3, respectively. Leading the way for the Jumbos in the Trinity match was senior co-captain Becky Bram. Bram won her singles match against Trinity sophomore Brenna Driscoll (6-4, 7-5) and her doubles match with freshman Jessica Knez, (8-4) over Driscoll and senior Melissa White. Also winning for the Jumbos were sophomores Megan Gentzler (7-6 (6), 7-6 (6) and Andrea Cenko (7-5, 6-2), junior Silvia Schmid (6-4, 6-2) and the doubles team of freshman Mari Homma and sophomore Alana Ackerman (8-4). The injury to Miller forced the rest of the team to step up, especially Knez. Only in her first year, Knez, has played a big role for the Jumbos, and due to the Miller's injury, has moved into second singles and first doubles. "We did incredibly well [even without Lisa,]" Knez said. "Everyone in the lineup had to move up a spot." The team had prepared for the forecast of rain and had practiced inside earlier in the week. There is a significant difference between the feel of indoor and outdoor courts and the preparation paid off. "[The rain] didn't really affect us that much," Bram said. "We knew there was a possibility of rain so we had prepared and played inside." After beating Trinity, the Jumbos forged on to play the NYU Bobcats. The match continued the team's hectic schedule over the past two weekends, with the team playing three matches in four days starting in late September, and then the doubleheader this weekend. Yet the Jumbos stayed strong, beating NYU 6-3. "It was tough for the girls to play a doubleheader especially because we had some court problems, basically forcing us to play both matches on just two courts," Miller said. "But it was a good test of our mental strength. We also had never played NYU before so we had no idea what to expect, and defeating them showed we could play against anybody thrown at us." Once again the play of Bram and Knez paced the team. Bram and Knez both won their singles matches (6-1, 6-2) (6-2, 6-2) respectively, as well as their doubles match (8-5). Cenko, Schmid and Homma also won their singles matches. "I thought the team did great," Bram said. "Everyone was able to pull out their matches and really come through for the win." The two wins mean the team will close out its fall match-play season with a 5-2 record. Next up for the Jumbos will be the New England Championships hosted by Amherst College. The championships will be the last competition in the team's fall season. The tournament is divided into six singles flights and three doubles flights. Each player plays in her corresponding flight, and only plays opponents from within that flight. Points are awarded corresponding to each player's advancement within the tournament. The team to compile the most points comes away with the tournament championship. The Jumbos hope to come away with that title this year. "The two wins today were big to get the team confidence up for New England's," Miller said. "Nobody was down after our previous losses because we know we played well and both matches could have gone either way, but it was definitely good for our confidence as a team to win the two straight on Saturday." "I think everyone could do really well," Bram added. "We want to end the season on a positive note."
