Meghan McCooey, women's tennis
In a tough weekend of play for the women's tennis team, it was a rookie who put up the best singles performance for the Jumbos.
Freshman Meghan McCooey advanced to the semifinals in the second singles flight at the NEWITT Div. III Championship at Amherst College on Sunday, before falling to the eventual No. 2 flight singles champion freshman Grace Baljon of Williams 6-0, 6-1. No other Jumbo managed to make it past the quarterfinals in the other singles flights.
McCooey cruised through her first and second round matches, dropping a total of four games in four sets. In the first round, McCooey overwhelmed Mt. Holyoke sophomore Ashley Fallon 6-1, 6-2, followed by a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing of Springfield College freshman Kaitlynn Cates in the second round. The quarterfinals saw McCooey battle back from a first set loss to overcome Wellesley sophomore Jen Schwarzkopf 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Despite being a rookie in the second singles slot, McCooey has posted a perfect 4-0 record in dual matches for Jumbo tennis. She has yet to surrender a set in those matches and has outscored her opponents 49-15 in games.
Alex Bedig, men's soccer
When Saturday's Williams-Tufts men's soccer match finished, the 2-1 final on the scoreboard suggested a hard-fought, even match that had slipped through Tufts' fingers at the last moment. Had it not been for junior defender Alex Bedig, however, the damage caused by the Ephs would have been far worse.
The Ephs dominated the game, logging 23 shots to the Jumbos' four, and Bedig's textbook defensive play at the right fullback position was crucial against a Williams' team where the main offensive strategy involved feeding the ball out wide for a cross. Bedig played careful defense against the skilled Williams offenders, intercepting in the passing lanes, and timing his challenges correctly. He forced multiple turnovers and cleared the ball quickly, giving the Tufts defense some time to breathe.
Bedig's superb performance was the highlight in an overall rock-solid game from the Tufts defense. Faced with a continual onslaught from the Williams attack, coupled with a lagging counter-attack from the Tufts midfielders and strikers, the Jumbo defenders, including senior tri-captain Jon Glass, senior Aaron Nass and junior Andrew Drucker, tracked down Williams defenders and frustrated countless Ephs' drives into the 18-yard box. Though the Jumbos ultimately lost, they owe the close score to the efforts of Bedig and his fellow defenders.
