The Women's tennis team finished a hectic stretch in its season this weekend, playing three matches in four days for a win and two losses.
After a strong 7-2 victory over the M.I.T. Engineers, a team which had historically played Tufts very close, the Jumbos went down 6-3 and 7-2, respectively, to Bowdoin and Middlebury.
The strain of playing so many matches in such close proximity was evident on the courts Sunday against Middlebury.
"It was definitely hard having three matches in four days," sophomore Megan Gentzler said. "It was tough mentally and physically, especially against Middlebury, which was the hardest team we faced."
The weekend started off well with Thursday's match at M.I.T. The Jumbos won four out of six singles matches and swept all three doubles matches. Senior co-captains Becky Bram and Lisa Miller won the first doubles match, 8-2, against sophomores Mariah Hoover and Serena Lin.
The match was especially gratifying for Bram and Miller as they defeated the doubles pair that had eliminated them from the ITA tournament last weekend.
"That was huge, right after we lost to them in the ITAs," Bram said. "We were excited to play them again, and we just came out and played with all the confidence in the world."
Bram and Miller also notched wins in the singles matches, along with freshmen Jessica Knez and Silvia Schmid. The other two doubles pairs of Knez and freshman Mari Homma and sophomores Andrea Cenko and Megan Gentzler also won convincingly.
But the weekend began to turn sour for the Jumbos on Saturday, as Bowdoin paid a visit to Voute Courts. The Polar Bears won behind the stellar play of senior Kara Perriello and junior Christine D'Elia, who both won their singles and doubles matches.
For Tufts, the doubles play of Homma and Knez was a bright spot of the day. They downed junior Kristina Sisk and sophomore Kristen Raymond 8-6. Miller and Cenko also won their singles matches (7-5, 6-3) and (6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5)) respectively.
Many of the matches were closely contested, including Schmid's third set tiebreaker loss to Raymond (3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3)).
"Everyone really fought out there," Bram said. "A lot of matches could have gone either way and it could have been 5-4 or 6-3 us."
On Sunday, the Jumbos finished their busy schedule with a match against Middlebury, which boasts the singles winner of last weekend's ITA Tournament in junior Amy Roche. Tuft's Miller put together an admirable effort against Roche, taking her to three sets, but ultimately losing (6-2, 1-6, 6-1.)
The Jumbos' two wins came from the doubles team of Cenko and Schmid, and the sixth singles player, junior Elyse Piker. Cenko and Schmid defeated senior Maren Messing and freshman Clare Burke, 8-5, and Parker beat Burke (7-5, 6-3) for the singles win.
The Jumbos have a particularly young team this fall, with some varsity members abroad and a plethora of freshmen filling some of the top seeds. This weekend's matches were a less-than-warm welcome for many of the Jumbos' rookies to the high level of NESCAC play.
"We haven't had this type of competition yet," Bram said. "It might have come as a surprise to some people how good the competition might actually be."
Although the hectic schedule of the last week has been draining physically for the team, it has served to foster some team unity.
"We have really been coming together as a team and cheering each other on in matches," Genztler said.
The Jumbos have a week of practice and rest before this Saturday's doubleheader against Trinity and NYU. This is the Jumbos' first-ever match against the Violets.
