The women's tennis team began its spring season in Maryland last week, taking on Washington College on Monday and Johns Hopkins Tuesday before heading to Virginia to compete against Washington and Lee in the annual Fab Five Tournament on Thursday.
The Jumbos, who were ranked seventh in the ITA Div. III national rankings before the trip began, got off to a great start, running away with a 9-0 victory at Washington College. But they struggled against two top-10 opponents in No. 10 Johns Hopkins and No. 3 Washington and Lee, losing 8-1 and 6-3, respectively.
In the opening contest against Washington College last Monday, junior Lindsay Katz had her work cut out for her in the No. 1 spots in both singles and doubles. But the captain held her own, winning her singles match 6-2, 4-6, 10-7, and taking her doubles match, 9-7, along with partner sophomore Eliza Flynn.
Outside of Katz's two tight wins, the Jumbos cruised to the rest of their victories. Junior Janice Lam and senior Nat Schils didn't lose a game at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, while sophomore Samantha Gann won her No. 3 singles match, 6-3, 6-1, and combined with Lam to not lose a game in No. 2 doubles.
The latter part of the trip did not go as well for the Jumbos, who won only one match against Johns Hopkins on Tuesday. The lone victory for Tufts was recorded by Gann, who won a marathon battle in the No. 3 singles spot that was decided by a tiebreaker that Gann took, 15-13.
"I was nervous to play the No. 3 singles position against Hopkins - one that I am unaccustomed to - and was personally satisfied to come away with a win against an excellent opponent," Gann told the Daily in an email. "Having said that, I feel I am very focused on improving with each match that we play, and will continue to concentrate on stepping in to take the ball earlier and on my net game."
The rest of the team faltered against a Hopkins squad that appeared to be in top form. Tufts' No. 3 doubles team, made up of freshman Sophie Schonfield and sophomore Rebecca Kimmel, put up the toughest fight for the Jumbos before falling, 9-7.
Tufts finished up its spring break against third-ranked Washington and Lee on Thursday. The match was hard-fought from the start, but Washington and Lee ultimately pulled out the victory, 6-3.
Katz and sophomore Eliza Flynn both had big wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 singles spots, respectively. Katz won 6-3, 6-4, while Flynn took her match 6-3, 5-7, 6-0. Katz and Flynn led the way in doubles as well, securing the only doubles win for the team in the No. 2 spot, 8-6.
"Lindsay and Eliza played amazing singles and doubles matches and got the rest of the team fired up," Gann said. "After their wins, three of the remaining four singles matches were in a third set, but unfortunately we didn't come away with the two wins needed to take the match."
Although the team returned sophomore Shelci Bowman to the No. 2 singles position, the rest of the Tufts players were unable to take advantage of playing a spot lower than they had in the previous two matches, while Bowman dropped a close contest, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Despite the Jumbos' pair of losses over break, the trip provided them with a chance to not only test their toughness against some stiff competition, but also to come together as a team - the squad stayed at two of the players' houses last week.
"Our closeness off the court will only help us progress through the spring schedule," Gann said.
In addition, Katz believes the team's 1-2 record does not indicate how well they played.
"Going into break, we were just excited to start matches and get back to work," Katz said in an email. "At the end of the week, I think the final results didn't reflect how we did. We played a lot of teams whose seasons are winding down, while ours is just getting started. We played a lot of close matches that we think could have gone our way if we just had a little more experience. Overall, we are really optimistic about how the season is going to go."
Tufts will begin conference play this upcoming Saturday when the team hosts Colby at 12:00 p.m.
