Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Stanco leads underclassmen team to 2-2 start

test9901
Tufts junior Lynn Cheng plays against Boston College at the Belmont Hill courts on Jan. 29, 2014.

Senior captain Paget Stanco stands alone on her team. The undisputed leader is the only upperclassman player on a roster with 13 spots and made up, in part, by an astonishing eight first-year athletes. Stanco said that having all the younger players on the team has put her in a great position to lead. She pointed to energy, rather than inexperience, as a result of the youth of the team.

“All the young talent brings so much energy to our team, and all the girls are willing to go out there and give it their all during each match,” Stanco said.

Just four games into the season, the young team sits at a record of 2-2. The team's most recent matchup against No. 19 Hamilton ended in a 8-1 loss. 

No. 2 Zarena Jafry, a standout first-year, was the lone Jumbo to record a victory on Nov. 22 in a five-set thriller over the Continentals' Lindsay Arader, 11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 9-11, 11-6. This win raised Jafry’s personal record to 2-1 and earned her NESCAC Player of the Week honors in her opening tournament.

“It was very flattering," Jafry said. "I just went out trying to play my best; it gives me a lot of confidence to be rewarded for playing hard.”

Jafry had not played in the team's blowout victory against Boston University the day before due to a back injury. First-years Hannah Burns and Olivia Ladd-Luthringshauser stepped into the number two and number three slots, respectively, and both delivered victories, proving that the team could dominate from top to bottom.

On Nov. 20, the team played two games, opening their season with an 8-1 loss to University of Virgini but bouncing back later that day to defeat Boston College 8-1. 

“We went into our first match against one of the toughest teams we will face all season," Stanco said. "I had no idea who was going to step up or who would crumble under pressure, and everyone stuck it out and left it all out on the court. We definitely have room to improve, but that will just take time and more match play.”

Sophomore Claudia Udolf recorded the team’s only victory in a hard-fought match in the No. 6 slot. Though the result was not what the team had hoped for, it proved to be a valuable experience for the young roster.

“It was nice to get the first match out of the system, we all just had so much energy and we were able to be more calm in the second match,” first-year and No. 7 Chista Irani said. “Even though we didn’t win against UVA, they were a very good team, and even just gaining the experience of playing that game gave us more confidence going into the Boston College match.”

Later in the day against Boston University, six first-year starters recorded their first collegiate wins. The first of their two-game win streak gave the Tufts plenty of momentum heading into its fourth and final game of the busy opening weekend, where it met NESCAC rival Hamilton College, although the matchup ended in a loss. 

The team took a brief break for Thanksgiving, but will return to action this Saturday when Tufts faces off against Dickinson, Conn. College and St. Lawrence.

“They will be tough games, but if we play our game we should be able to get some wins," Irani said. "I think we expect to come out of the weekend 4-0.”

The Jumbos will try to focus on one game at a time, but with six first-years already in the top nine of the ladder, the team's future looks bright. Jafry and Irani both added that another strong recruiting class is coming in next year. 

“Coach has hopes of us finishing in the top 20 this year, which is definitely doable, and we will have to win some critical games," Jafry said. "It is definitely exciting to be part of the upward trajectory; it is going to be a fun year.”