After two tough NESCAC losses, the women's tennis team is back on track, following wins over conference foes Trinity on Sunday and Conn. College on Tuesday.
After a 7-2 loss to No. 7 Bowdoin on Friday the Jumbos had their work cut out for them Tuesday, taking on yet another NESCAC powerhouse in No. 4 Amherst, which was vulnerable after a recent 5-4 upset loss to No. 9 Middlebury.
The women's tennis team saw its five-match winning streak end Friday afternoon at the hands of undefeated Bowdoin, which pushed its record to 13-0 with the win.
Riding a five-match winning streak and holding the No. 20 ranking in the country, the women's tennis team is gearing up for its two toughest matches of the season.
It was a happy homecoming for the women's tennis team Saturday and Sunday, as it demolished its NESCAC opponents this weekend, sweeping both Colby and Bates by decisive 9-0 scores on its first homestand of the season.
Last week did not offer much of a break for the women's tennis team, as the squad traveled to California to take on five West Coast teams, positing a 3-2 record before heading back east to take on NESCAC foes.
With plane tickets to California in hand, a junior team member back from abroad, and the chance to play outside this week for the first time since winter reared its ugly head, the women's tennis team eagerly awaits the beginning of its spring season.
When the women's tennis team kicks off its spring season next week, the Jumbos will put a reworked doubles game to the test in the first dual matches of 2007.
With the last tournament of the fall season behind them and the spring season five months ahead, the members of the women's tennis team have many reasons to celebrate. The Jumbos went 4-0 this season in dual matches, and they never lost more than two matches to any single opponent.
With hours and hours of practice and victories in all four dual meets and ITA Regionals under its belt, the women's tennis team turns its attention to the New England Championships (NEWITTS) this weekend.
In a match that was much closer than the score reflected, the Jumbos came together during singles play to pull out a decisive win 7-2 victory over NYU on Saturday.
On a beautiful night on the tennis courts on Professor's Row, the women's tennis team dominated the Engineers of MIT, 8-1. The Jumbos won two of three doubles bouts and swept MIT in all six of the singles matches.
The women's tennis team flexed its veteran muscles and flashed its young talent in the ITA Regional Tournament over the weekend.
Three rookies won their first collegiate matches as the women's tennis team pounded Smith in its season opener, sweeping the singles play en route to an 8-1 win.
After a 5-4 loss to the Bowdoin Polar Bears in the first round of NCAA Regionals ended a disappointingly short playoff run last spring, the women's tennis team is ready to shake off its ghosts and gear up for 2006. And they have all the tools to do it.
The women's tennis team now has a legitimate beef with Bowdoin.
If the women's tennis team were to write a list of goals for next season, beating NESCAC-rival Bowdoin would have to be close to the top.
Riding a three-game winning streak, the No. 27 women's tennis team entered the first round of Friday's NESCAC Tournament against No. 23 Bowdoin looking to pick up the victory and earn a date with Amherst in the semifinals. The fifth-seeded Jumbos fell short, however, as fourth-seeded Bowdoin triumphed, 6-3, at Williams College, which hosted the tournament. The Jumbos now await a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament, which will be played this weekend. "Everyone was really disappointed," senior captain Becky Bram said. "We had all hoped to get a shot at Amherst the next day," Bram said. Amherst went on to win the tournament. The regular-season fall contest between the Jumbos and Polar Bears also ended in a 6-3 Bowdoin win, and despite the return of juniors Kylyn Deary, Jen Luten, and Stephanie Ruley from abroad, Tufts failed to exact vengeance on the Polar Bears. (Deary is also a senior staff writer for the Daily sports department.) "It was definitely a tough loss because the score was so close," Bram said. "A lot of the close matches didn't go our way this time. It was definitely a disappointment and no one really expected it, especially since we lost by the same score and our team is so much stronger now." "Bowdoin is always a feisty team, and this was an important match for them," coach Kate Bayard added. "They went into this match with the confidence that they had beaten us earlier in the year. I'm sure they were focused on that, rather than on the fact that our lineup is different now. A victory is a victory." At No. 1 doubles, Bram and Luten overpowered Bowdoin freshman Sarah D'Elia and junior Kelsey Hughes, 8-2. The Polar Bears picked up the other doubles matches, as Ruley and Deary fell to junior Christine D'Elia and sophomore Kristen Raymond, 8-4, at the two spot. At No. 3, Bowdoin senior Kristina Sisk and freshman Rachel Waldman defeated Tufts sophomore Andrea Cenko and freshman Jessica Knez by the same 8-4 margin. Normally freshman Mari Homma joins Cenko play at No. 3, but Homma was absent from Friday's match. "Becky and Jen played another outstanding match at No. 1 doubles," Bayard said. "Our No. 2 and No. 3 teams played solid doubles, but Bowdoin capitalized on their opportunities better than we did." The squad's remaining two victories came from No. 2 and No. 4 singles. Bram bounced back after dropping the first set to Raymond and won 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2. At No. 3, Deary routed D'Elia, 6-2, 6-0. Tufts suffered close singles losses across the board, including two that went to three sets. At No. 1, Luten lost to D'Elia by a narrow 6-4, 7-6 (9) score. In the third slot, Hughes outlasted Ruley in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Waldman took the No. 5 match, 7-5, 6-4, against Jumbo junior Silvia Schmid, and Knez lost in a close match at No. 6, falling to Sisk, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3). "The match came down to a couple of points," Bayard said. "It was close; one team had to win and it was Bowdoin. We knew any match at NESCACs would be a fight, but we were going into this first round with confidence. It's tough to lose a match you know you're capable of winning; however, I'm sure Bowdoin would have felt the same way if we had beaten them. I'm happy with how hard we fought, but it clearly wasn't our day." On the surface it seemed that the Jumbos should have captured the match, not only based on the change in lineup from fall to spring but also based on Bowdoin's mediocre 7-7 record going into the tournament. "It's interesting because if you look back at Bowdoin's matches against other teams, they lost head-to-head to Connecticut College, who we beat, Bates, who we beat 9-0, and Wellesley, who we beat," Bram said. "If you look at it on paper, it would seem like an easy win for us." Tufts will find out on Tuesday whether it received a berth in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Seven teams from the region will be invited to compete for the opportunity to qualify for the national tournament. "It's tough to say who will get in at this point," Bayard said. "There are a bunch of teams vying for the last few slots. Amherst, Williams and Middlebury are definitely going, and Wellesley probably fits into one of those definite slots." Tufts, Vassar, Bowdoin and the College of New Jersey are all on the bubble. In order to prepare for a potential bid, the squad will continue to train. "We will continue to focus on doubles skills and strategy, mental toughness and conditioning in practice," Bayard added. "We will be ready if we get this bid."
The women's tennis team extended its winning streak to three matches on Wednesday as No. 27 Tufts handily upset the No. 12 Wellesley Blue 8-1 in Wellesley, Mass.
On the heels of Tuesday's NESCAC victory over Conn. College, the women's tennis team traveled to unranked Bates hoping to reinforce its chances of qualifying for the NCAA Regional Tournament.
