Though tri-captains Julia Browne and Meghan McCooey have amassed quite a resume as doubles partners, coach Kate Bayard hasn't exactly committed to keeping the decorated duo together in the spring, when the women's tennis team will play the bulk of its dual-match schedule.
Following Browne and McCooey's victory in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) New England Championships on Sunday, Bayard said the chances were "probably 50-50" that she'd leave the pair intact for the full season.
Thoughts of splitting up the All-American duo certainly aren't performance-related; Browne and McCooey won a national title together last fall, amassed a near-flawless 14-1 dual-match record out of the No. 1 doubles spot in 2008-09 and, most recently, added a New England regional crown to their trophy case. But once the dual-match season kicks into full gear, Bayard says it may be worth spreading Browne and McCooey's talents across the lineup to better the team's chances of winning.
"Here Meghan and Julia are winning the Regionals, but at the same time I'm very much playing with the idea of splitting them up in the spring," she said. "Part of me would like to see that level of experience, an upperclassman, at every spot in the lineup. That would be an argument for splitting them up."
Both Browne and McCooey have been successful with other partners in the past. During the 2007-08 season, Browne and junior Edwina Stewart were a perfect 10-0 in dual matches out of the No. 3 doubles position, while McCooey and senior Erica Miller have a lifetime mark of 13-4 together at second doubles. But since they were paired together at the start of last year, Browne and McCooey have developed a chemistry that has translated into prolific results.
"We just know each other's games; we know where we're going to be on the court, we know how to pump each other up, and all that really helps," McCooey said. "I always love playing with her, and I think we've gotten to know each other's games really well."
Earlier this season, Bayard indicated that her preference would be to keep Browne and McCooey together as long as it did not hurt the overall strength of her doubles lineup. If the performance this weekend by Stewart and freshman Lindsay Katz was any indication, she may be able to do just that.
Playing for the first time as doubles partners last weekend, Stewart and Katz nearly scored a major upset at the ITA tournament, pushing Wellesley's second-seeded pairing of senior Mohona Siddique and junior Jacqueline Shen in a narrow 9-7 loss. But at this early juncture of the season, Bayard is not ready to make any final decisions regarding her lineup.
"It's great to know that I have that option because they make a very tough team," Bayard said. "They complement each other's games well. But it's too early to tell whether they're going to end up as a team or not. We just have so many options; the doubles is not set by any means."
