Jumbos drop second straight dual match

In its final dual match before this weekend's NESCAC Championships, the women's tennis team fell to Amherst by a score of 7-2, bringing the team's fall and spring combined record to 10-2 overall. The match was moved indoors due to inclement weather outside, but this did not necessarily prove favorable for the Jumbos. According to senior captain Barclay Gang, playing in the Amherst indoor facility was only slightly better than playing in the rain.

"They had three indoor courts that played really fast," Gang said.

Despite the less than optimal circumstances, Gang was quick to praise the team's effort on the court, and was proud of the way her team competed.

"The girls fought really hard," the captain added.

Despite the loss, the trip out to Amherst did yield a couple of bright spots for the Jumbos, including a win at second singles by junior Jen Lejb. Lejb provided a straight set triumph over the Jeffs' Kristen Raverta by a score of 6-4, 6-3, which improved her overall record to 12-1 on the season, including an impressive win at second singles on Saturday against national number one Emory.

The other victory on the day came at second doubles with Gang and junior partner Neda Pisheva defeating the team of Raverta and partner Wallis Molchen, 8-3. Gang also had a tight match at fourth singles but fell to Hadley Miller 6-4, 7-6. Also coming up slightly short for Tufts was Lisa Miller, who fell to Molchen at fifth singles 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. With the result of the match already decided, a tiebreaker was played in place of the third set to determine the victor.

In the rest of the day's singles action, freshman Jen Luten fell at first singles to Trista Hedrick 1-2, 2-6; sophomore Becky Bram fell to Rachel Holt 6-0, 6-1 at third singles, and freshman Kylyn Deary, playing in the sixth slot, fell 6-3, 6-1 to Katie Hudson. In doubles, Lejb and Luten fell 8-4 to Holt and Hedrick, and Bram and Miller lost to Miller and Erin Murphy by a score of 8-6.

The eighth-ranked Lord Jeffs improved their overall mark on the season to 12-3.

The Jumbos will not have to wait long to put forth a strong performance on Amherst's home turf, as the squad will be right back out in Western Massachusetts on Thursday for this weekend's NESCAC Championships, hosted by the Jeffs.

Multiple current Jumbos were able to have success in last year's NESCACs, including wins in two doubles flights. In the number 1 doubles flight last year, Lejb was victorious with her partner, 2003 graduate and co-captain Kate Nordstrom. In the number 4 doubles flight, Bram and junior Trina Spear also came out on top in 2003.

Gang advanced to the semifinals last year in the B Flight of the singles tournament, and Miller did the same in the C Flight, only to lose to the other 2003 senior co-captain, Iffy Saeed. In the D Flight, Pisheva advanced all the way to the finals, and looks to repeat her similar success this year.

The Jumbos two freshmen, Luten and Deary, also look to be successful in their first NESCAC tournament. At the Middlebury Invitational three weekends ago, Luten was dominant in each of her matches on her way to the flight A singles title, while Deary smoked her competition, only losing 11 games in the entire tournament on her way to the flight D singles title. The two then combined to win the Flight A doubles title, as Luten's usual partner, Jen Lejb, was unable to compete.

Coming off its first two losses of the season, the squad seems ready to post multiple strong showings in this year's NESCAC Championships. Gang is confident in her team's ability and hopes today's loss will help motivate the Jumbos in the tournament.

"We're excited for NESCACs this weekend," she said. "And hopefully we'll have a chance to play some of the same people [we played today] and beat them."