Tennis

Women's tennis returns strong

Women's tennis coach Jim Watson is living the dream of every coach in the history of college sports. Every one of his players returned from last year, and he has a talented crop of freshmen to boot. All this means that it is time for the tennis team to challenge and defeat perennial NESCAC leaders Amherst and Williams. And the players know they have a chance. "We really want to finish in the top two or three," junior Heather Rich said. "We have to be strong against Williams and Amherst." In fact, two of Tufts' three losses last year to Div. III foes (the 9-4 Jumbos lost once to Div. I Harvard "B" team) were to the Ephwomen and the Lady Jeffs. However, this could be the year for the Jumbos to compete with the depth of those powerhouse squads. Tufts will have its work cut out; last year, the Jumbos lost to Amherst 9-0 and Williams 8-1. "They are both really deep and consistent," Rich said. "We need to match their consistency, but this year we have a lot of good freshmen who can compete with Williams and Amherst." Sophomore Emily Warshauer feels that part of the problem is mental. "We can't psych ourselves out," Warshauer said. "It's easy to say that they're so good, but we have to know we can win because we have the talent if we're at the top of our game." Everyone on the team is talking about the freshmen, and while they may not be on the varsity squad this year (although two freshmen are currently in competition for spots), they do complete an already deep team. The Jumbos are so talented from top to bottom that coach Watson has yet to make a complete lineup, despite the fact that the team kicks off the season this Friday with a match at Smith. "We are all really close, it's tough to determine a lineup," Rich said. "The last person on the team is almost as good as the first person." Still, the team's top two spots are fairly certain. Sophomore Katie Nordstrom should return at the number one spot, as she will be trying to improve her number 10 rank in the ITA East Region. Right behind her will likely be junior Erika Lee, who finished last year as the 20th ranked singles player in the East Region. After that, the team remains uncertain of who will play where. The fact that it will be so hard to determine rankings could mean trouble for the Jumbos in the first few matches, as the players remain unsure of where they may be playing. "We probably won't know where we will be playing until Wednesday for the Friday match," Rich said. "We may not have time to get ready to play in our spot or to get ready with our doubles partner." Of course, if that's the biggest problem the Jumbos have, they are in good shape. Rich had trouble pinpointing any other weakness for this team. Warshauer had a similar problem, as she feels that the team is solid all-around. "We are just working on our consistency in practice," Warshauer said. "All around, we are all pretty strong players." And don't worry too much about the lineup creation; the Jumbos have a 20-year veteran taking care of that. Through 19 years, Watson has a 125-88 record, and is one of the top coaches in the region. "Having such a veteran as a coach means that we're not worried about the lineup," Rich said. "He knows exactly where everyone is playing, and he tries to stress teamwork as well. Even though tennis is an individual sport, he tries to make it a team sport." Other top contributors will be Warshauer, who made it to the New England semi-finals in the fourth singles division last year, and senior Jen Lai, who was also a semi-finalist in 6th singles. Two doubles teams qualified for the semi-finals as well. In addition to her strong play, Lai also brings great leadership qualities to a fairly young team. She and fellow senior Sucharita Kuchibhotla are co-captains and the only two seniors on the team. "They bring stability to the team," Rich said. "They are the backbone. They know what's going on, and they are both strong players." Good leadership from the coach and captains, plus a youthful,experienced team should at least help to build on last year's 9-4 record and number four ranking in New England. "Having everyone back and such strong leadership gives us that much more confidence to start the season," Rich said. "We know we're not starting from ground zero. We're just adding to the success that we had last year." Warshauer feels that if the team keeps things simple this season, it should be easy to build on last year. "We just want to have fun, and have a lot of team unity," Warshauer said. "If we just go out and try our best, we will have success."