About halfway through the season, the Jumbos have accomplished a lot and can potentially move up even further in the national rankings if they can shake off a persistent injury bug.
Five members of the women's team accompanied the men on a winter break training trip to the Bahamas in the hopes of avoiding winter rust.
"Going to the Bahamas helped a lot to keep us sharp," senior co-captain Eliza Drachman-Jones said. "We played twice every day."
"Normally when we get back from winter break it takes about a week to get in the swing of things, but now those people who went on the trip are ready to go," Drachman-Jones said.
The Jumbos desperately needed the break to rest up so they could return to full strength for the second half of the season. The shorthanded Jumbos fell 1-8 to Amherst in a match immediately before the break at Amherst on Dec. 10.
Tufts had to default the number eight and nine positions because the team was shorthanded due to a rash of injuries.
"We were forced to play the Amherst match shorthanded, but we still put up a good effort," coach Doug Eng said.
The usual number one player, Jules Avrutin, was out of the lineup with an injury, so everyone else had to move up one spot.
Sophomore Liz Thys picked up the lone victory for the Jumbos at the number five spot by winning a marathon match 7-9, 9-7, 3-9, 9-7, 10-8.
"Liz had to move up two spots because of all our injured players," Eng said. "She still managed to win in five games, so that says something about her."
Despite being plagued with injuries, the women have put up some excellent results halfway through the season. The Jumbos are currently ranked 14th in the nation.
Eng is very pleased with the way things have progressed.
"I am more than happy with how the women are playing thus far," Eng said. "I think they might be surprising themselves a little bit with how well they have done, but I'm not surprised; this is a very talented team."
"This is the highest our team has been ranked in the four years I have played here," Drachman-Jones said.
The next matches for the women will be January 28th at the Mount Holyoke Invitational.
"We are going to be playing a number of talented teams next weekend, so we need to be playing our best," Eng said.
One key opponent next week will be Mount Holyoke College.
"The Mount Holyoke match is going to be very important for us," Drachman-Jones said. "They are two spots ahead of us right now and we always have real close matches with them."
The Jumbos have every reason to believe they can move up since they should be a stronger team in the second half.
Juniors Joelle Polivy and Sarah Lucas will be returning from semesters abroad to help the cause. Sophomore Jennifer Lange is also expected to be at full strength after battling injuries.
"We are more or less healthy now," Drachman-Jones said. "Erica Adler has a cold but we're hopeful that she'll be able to play by this weekend. Other than that the rest of our team is pretty healthy."
Considering the Jumbos have already seen some success as a shorthanded squad, it looks as though their future is bright.
