For the women's tennis team, 2011 has been a year of firsts.
After victories against then-No. 4 University of Chicago and then-No. 8 Washington and Lee during the regular season, Tufts moved up to a program-best national No. 5 ranking. But that was just the beginning for the Jumbos, who made history again on May 15 when they beat No. 9 Johns Hopkins 5-1 in the NCAA Regional Final to advance to the national quarterfinals for the first time in school history.
"It's seriously a dream come true. We've wanted this since my freshman year, and we've come really close in the past, but this year has been just absolutely incredible," graduating senior tri-captain Julia Browne said. "We have such a great bunch of girls and everybody fought really hard. We're trying to keep it going as much as possible because I really don't want this team's season to end."
Tufts started the match off against the Blue Jays by taking No. 2 doubles, where rising junior Lindsay Katz and rising sophomore Eliza Flynn won easily in a 8-2 match, and No. 3 doubles, where rising junior Lauren Hollender and rising sophomore Sam Gann won 9-8(6). Gann also grabbed the first singles win, dominating rising junior Andrea Berlinghof, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 6 singles.
"I really wanted to win for the team and I knew the win was bigger than myself," Gann said. "I just tried to relax before every point to try to close out the matches to put the team in a better position to win the whole thing."
With the Jumbos up 3-1, Katz's opponent at the No. 2 spot, rising junior Nandita Krishnan, hurt her knee and retired. Tufts eventually clinched the win when Browne took a 6-1, 6-1 victory from rising senior Carolyn Warren, the nation's 15th-ranked player.
"We were all really pumped and we all knew that we definitely didn't want the season to end. We knew it was our match for the taking, so we were really excited about that," Gann said.
In the second round of NCAAs the day before, Tufts swept Hunter College 5-0, setting a new school record for wins (15) in the process. Katz and Flynn and Hollender and Gann both won 8-1 at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, respectively. At the No. 1 spot, Browne and rising sophomore Shelci Bowman won 8-4. In singles play, Flynn and Hollender earned the first two wins to capture the team victory.
During all this success, the Jumbos have been playing in the NCAA Tournament without coach Kate Bayard, who recently gave birth to her first daughter.
"It's really weird not having her here, actually. She's coached me for four years and she's put this program in a really wonderful place and she gave us all the tools in order to achieve success," Browne said. "Our assistant coach and volunteer coaches have done a wonderful job stepping in when she hasn't been able to be there physically."
Assistant coach Jaime Kenney, who has taken over for Bayard, is enjoying the experience of helping the Jumbos to their best postseason showing ever, but recognizes the challenge ahead as Tufts prepares to take on NESCAC rival Amherst on Tuesday in the national quarterfinals in Claremont, Calif.
"The last week of practice has been unbelievable," Kenney said. "We respect Amherst; they're a great team, but I like our matchup against them. The girls are well-aware of how close they are. I like our matchup against them."
For a chance at the semifinals, the Jumbos will have to get by a Lord Jeffs squad that they lost to 5-4 at home on April 19. In that match, Katz went to three sets in a No. 2 singles defeat, and Amherst took two of three doubles to cede control early.
Tufts is no stranger to the perennial national powerhouse. In her four-year career with the Jumbos, Browne has faced Amherst seven times, but has never defeated the Lord Jeffs. Yet if any team is going to make history against Amherst, this year's just might be the one.
"[Amherst] is a team we've seen a lot over my four years," Browne said. "They're always in the Elite Eight. We're going to practice as hard as we can to get ready, and hopefully we can get it done."
