This weekend, the No. 12 women's tennis team will play in the three-day Wellesley Invitational, where eight teams, including six ranked in the national top 30, will be competing.
The Jumbos hope to build off a strong showing in their home opener this past weekend against the Colby Mules, a match the Jumbos took 9-0.
"We're going into the tournament looking to win," junior captain Lindsay Katz said. "We had a great win against Colby, and we think we can keep it going this weekend. We play MIT first, who we beat 7-2 the first time we played them in the fall. We've been working hard on our doubles play all week in preparation."
MIT will be one of only two unranked teams in the tournament, but after defeating Colby 8-1 on Mar. 10, it might at least have a chance in the first round. Still, the Jumbos handled the Engineers fairly easily back in September, and if they can continue to get the most out of underclassmen Sophia Schonfeld, Eliza Flynn and Samantha Gann, and receive strong play from Katz at the top, they should be able to win MIT again.
Tufts could face a tougher test in the second round, playing either 30th-ranked Bates or 18th-ranked Wellesley. Wellesley comes in 11-2 overall since the fall and in midseason form. A Wellesley-Tufts matchup would probably be hotly contested in all nine spots.
If Tufts advances to the finals, they will likely meet perennial NESCAC power Amherst, which enters the tournament ranked third nationally. Amherst is coming off a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to rival Williams but previously won all four of its matches on its spring break trip to California. If Tufts pulled off that upset, it would be a huge confidence boost for a young team.
Tufts' first match against MIT will be played on Friday, followed by the semifinals on Saturday and the championship on Sunday. There will also be a separate losers' bracket for teams once they're eliminated.
The invitational will be the last tournament for Tufts before beginning a string of seven conference matches as well as one non-conference contest against Emory.
