Megan McCooey and Julia Browne, Women's Tennis - Returning to the women's tennis Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Small College National Championships in Mobile, Ala. this season, the Tufts doubles team of senior tri-captain Meghan McCooey and junior tri-captain Julia Browne is beginning to start a tradition at the annual tournament — winning first place.
Representing the Tufts women's tennis team's second national title in program history, the McCooey-Browne tandem entered the contest as the No. 2 seed in the Div. III doubles draw. Winning in straight sets, McCooey and Browne silenced their opponents from Linfield College and University of the Redlands in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. The victories were enough to launch the Jumbo team to the finals on Friday against The College of New Jersey's Jackie Shtemberg and Felice Trinh.
In the final doubles competition, McCooey and Browne tamed the Lions team 7-5, 6-3. The straight-set victory marks the duo's second, as they also won the 2008 national title 6-2, 6-2 over Denison.
Tom Tassinari, Football - Senior quad-captain Tom Tassinari led a strong defensive effort in Saturday's 10-3 loss to the Trinity Bantams. The 15 tackles were a season high for the pre-season All-American, who leads the NESCAC with 11.8 tackles per game.
The Bantams had averaged 33 points per game coming into the contest, but Tufts held them to a single touchdown and field goal. Last year, the Bantams scored 28 points on the Jumbos, a game in which Tassinari tallied 14 tackles. The conference champion Bantams have not been held to as few as 10 points since Oct. 13, 2007, when the Jumbos defeated them 16-10.
Last year, Tassinari was second in the conference with five interceptions, and he has been instrumental in this year's passing defense, which has allowed fewer than 150 yards per game, easily the best in the conference. The Bantams had averaged 222 yards per game through the air before being held to 154 by Tufts.
