The women's tennis team finished tied for third out of 11 teams at the Middlebury Invitational this past weekend. The squad tied Bowdoin with a total of 13 team points.
The two schools finished behind Williams (35 points) and Trinity (15 points), with Williams blowing away the competition by winning all six divisions - A through C - in both the singles and doubles brackets.
This type of tournament features the top six players from each school split into three divisions to face each other in a single elimination tournament. The doubles is run in the same three-group manner.
"[Finishing third] gave the team its confidence back after a disappointing loss to Amherst last weekend," freshman Neda Pisheva said.
Amherst finished sixth (11 points) in the tournament, but continued to give the Jumbos difficulty in some individual matches.
The Jumbos dropped two of three matches to the Lord Jeffs, with each of the top two Tufts seeds, Kate Nordtsrom and Barclay Gang, getting bumped out of the Group A singles bracket by Amherst opponents.
Nordstrom lost in the second round after winning her opening round match 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 over Lindsay Shantz of Hamilton. Gang advanced to the quarterfinals after a first round bye and second round win over Bates' Heather Bracken (7-5, 3-6, 6-4).
The brightest spot for the Jumbo's singles matches was freshman Trina Spear, who beat many talented opponents while advancing to the semifinals of the Group B bracket. Spear disposed of her first round foe in straight sets. Then went on to defeat Amherst's Wallis Molchen, in a grueling three set match, before beating a very talented Trinity player.
In the semifinals, Spear fell to Williams' Stephanie Hall, but her run was well recognized by her team. "She had a tough draw and came out very well," junior captain Iffy Saed said. "She played in a higher division than normal and rose to the occasion."
Spear was playing in a higher spot than usual due to the absence of two key players, as both Jennifer Lejb and Heidi Kashani sat out the tournament with injuries. Lejb, the team's top seed, did not play because of tendonitis in her shoulder that has kept her out of all but one match this semester - last weekend's Amherst match. Kashani missed the tournament because of a back injury that she has been battling all season.
Both Kashani and Lejb sat out hoping to rejoin the team next weekend against top-seeded Williams. "The Middlebury Tournament is more of an individual event, so hopefully with the rest we can be at full power against Williams," Lejb said.
Because of the missing talent, the strong finish was especially satisfying to the team.
"This performance shows our good depth," Saed said. "We brought up two JV players and they showed they could compete with the other schools. Hopefully when we get back to full strength we can show everyone that we can compete with Williams."
With Kashani and Lejb out of action, most of the seeds moved up one spot, while Trina Vu and Neda Pisheva stepped in to round out the six-player lineup.
Pisheva, a freshman, made her mark when she joined Gang in the Group B doubles bracket. The two overpowered opponents from Bowdoin (8-3), Colby (8-3), and Trinity (8-4), before losing to a Williams pair in the final.
In order for any Jumbo to win a bracket, they had to first go through a Williams player. And with Tufts playing Williams in a team match this coming weekend, the team saw the tournament as a good tune-up.
"We got in a lot of good work against Williams opponents this weekend," Pisheva said. "These matches will come in handy for our match against them, as we know we can compete with them."
The match with Williams could be instrumental in the Jumbos' quest to reach nationals. The top two teams at the regional tournament, which runs from May 10 to the 12, will qualify for Nationals. But the NESCAC alone features three of the top eleven teams in Division III - Williams, Amherst, and Tufts. Based on the setup of the playoffs, then, one of these talented teams will be left out of Nationals, making the seedings for the regional tournament all the more important.
So for Tufts, a win or close result against Williams - the number-one team and defending Division III champion - could result in a higher regional seeding and, thus, a better possibility at qualifying for Nationals.
