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University of Massachusets Athletics
Pair Of Weekend Home Matches For Tennis
February 18, 2010 | Tennis
Feb. 18, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass women's tennis team will return home to the Bay Road Tennis Club this weekend as they get set to battle St. John's on Saturday and Army on Sunday. The Minutewomen have put together back-to-back wins, defeating Siena in their home opener back on February 6 before knocking off defending Northeast Conference champions, Long Island, on February 12. The team will put their perfect, 3-0, dual match record on the line this weekend against two tough opponents. UMass will be looking to avenge a mock dual match loss to the Red Storm in the fall, when they fell to St. John's, 7-2, in Hanover, N.H.
Last Time Out
The Minutewomen are coming off a tough road victory against the defending Northeast Conference champions Long Island Blackbirds at the USTA Tennis Center last Friday. The 5-1 victory was the first road win of the young spring season for the Minutewomen, who are now 1-1 on the road after falling to Yale in their spring opener.
The Blackbirds came out playing strong to start today, earning the doubles point by taking two out of the three matches from UMass. Reigning NEC Player of the Year Selma Babic and her partner Aleksandra Pavlovic took a win in first doubles, but not before being taken into a tiebreaker by Candynce Boney and Maude Lecluyse, taking the match 9-8 (7-5). Linn Sjogren and Taysha Bessington clinched the point for LIU, defeating Julia Comas and Magdalena Ploch, 8-5. The Minutewomen would win one match, as Tanisha Hodgson and Jocelyn Providence continued to dominate in third doubles, winning their third-straight match by defeating Stephanie Elie and Dara Lahens, 8-4.
And the Minutewomen did just that, taking the first set in all six singles matches, including four by scores of 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 and 6-3. An impressive start for UMass would not be wasted, with singles players two through six picking up victories.
Comas got the squad started with a strong performance, defeating Sjogren, 6-0, 6-2. Boney would follow that up in third singles, also cruising to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Pavlovic. Kaitlyn Carpenter and Providence would also go on to victories in fifth and sixth singles respectively.
Lecluyse, the captain and lone senior, played a very hard-fought match with Blessington in third singles. The Montreal, Canada native was able to win a very big first set, 7-5, before sweeping the match with a 6-4 victory in the second set. Ploch and Babic ended their match undecided in first singles. Ploch, a sophomore, took the first set from the 2009 NEC Player of the Year, 7-5, before the match was stopped in the second set with the two tied at two games apiece.
Singles Play Leads Minutewomen
Tremendous play in singles competition has led the Minutewomen to their back-to-back victories, as the team has gone a perfect 11-0 over the last two dual matches. In fact, the team has not lost a single set in singles play over the last two matches, including a 5-0 sweep against LIU in their last match after losing the doubles point
Home, Sweet Home
The Minutewomen are a perfect 3-0 at home this season, including a 7-0 victory over Siena back on February 6. UMass also has victories over UConn (4-3) and Rhode Island (7-0) in Amherst this year. Overall, the team is 5-1 in dual matches with their lone loss coming on the road to No. 44 Yale.
Hodgson, Providence Stay Perfect
Tanisha Hodgson and Jocelyn Providence have been dominant in third doubles this season, positing a 4-0 record in dual matches thus far this year. The pair is also 3-1 in tournament play, giving them an overall record of 7-1.
Hodgson and Providence combined for the only victory for UMass against Yale, beating Stevi Petrelli and Silia DeFelippis, 8-4. Since then, the pair has also had wins against Siena (8-4) and Long Island (8-4).
UMass Tabbed 5th in A-10
The UMass tennis team has been picked to finish fifth in the Atlantic 10 according to the conference's preseason poll released last week. The squad finished sixth in the conference last season, and is currently 4-1 in dual matches this year including a perfect 3-0 in the fall.
Richmond has been picked to repeat as A-10 championships after taking home its fifth title in the past six seasons a year ago. Temple, who won the conference in 2008, has been tabbed second this year, followed by Charlotte.
Scouting the Opponents
The St. John's women's tennis team fell to Boston University and Dartmouth last weekend in Hanover, N.H. The Red Storm faced a 5-2 defeat against BU on Friday before being edged by Dartmouth, 6-1, on Sunday. The Red Storm are now 1-4 on the season in non-conference play.
Ece Firat notched the lone singles victory for St. John's against Boston, 6-4, 6-3 against Jessi Linero in the No. 3 slot. Firat and Jenny Yonkus also claimed the No. 1 doubles point, 8-4, over the Terriers' Francine Whu and Monika Mical.
The Black Knights of Army are actually playing a pair of matches today, as half the squad traveled to Amherst to take on UMass, while the other half stayed back at West Point to battle Bryant University. Army enters the day 4-3 overall on the season.
The Black Knights are coming off a pair of victories on Valentine's Day, knocking off UConn and Fordham, both by scores of 7-0 at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center. Senior captain Kristin Beehler and junior Anne Houghton were both a part of three victories on the afternoon, as Beehler won twice in singles and teamed with Houghton for a doubles victory over UConn, while Houghton won twice in doubles and collected a No. 1 singles victory against the Huskies as well.
Watch The Minutewomen Live At the Bay Road Tennis Club
UMass will be home all weekend at the Bay Road Tennis Club, as they host St. John's Saturday afternoon (12:30 p.m.) and Army Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.).