Tennis Travels To #57 Dartmouth Wednesday

March 2, 2010

AMHERST, Mass. - The Minutewomen tennis team will begin a six-match road trip this week, as they travel to take on No. 57 Dartmouth on Wednesday (5 p.m.). The match was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but was postponed due to inclement weather in Hanover, N.H. UMass will look to get back on track after falling to Boston College, 6-1, over the weekend, dropping their overall record to 7-2.

Last Time Out
The UMass women's tennis team fell to Boston College, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Bay Road Tennis Club. The loss snapped a four match winning streak for the Minutewomen, who dropped to 7-2 on the season while the Eagles improved to 4-4.

The Minutewomen fought-hard against a very good Boston College team that has only suffered losses to four ranked opponents this season. UMass was also hampered by an injury to Julia Comas, who was unable to play in the match. The freshman who plays No. 2 singles and had won four-straight matches coming into the week.

The Eagles started off the match by sweeping the doubles point, taking all three matches to claim the early, 1-0, lead. In first doubles, Alex Kelleher and Olga Khymlev knocked-off Candynce Boney and Maude Lecluyse, 8-4. Filling in for Comas in the second doubles spot, Kaitlyn Carpenter played very well with her partner Magdalena Ploch, but the pair fell, 8-6, to Katharine Atwell and Brittany Delaney. Katarina Gajic and Jacqueline Mabatah rounded out the doubles matches with an 8-2 win over Tanisha Hodgson and Jocelyn Providence.

Boston College would continue to play well in the singles matches, sweeping all six to take the, 7-0, win. Kelleher started things off by beating Ploch in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Boney was able to pick-up the lone victory for the Minutewomen, beating Khymlev in a tiebreak, 7-6, 6-7 (10-6), filling in for Comas at No.2 singles. The Eagles were sharp throughout the day, and took the final four matches to snap the UMass win streak.

Home, Sweet Home
The loss to Boston College was the first home loss of the season for the Minutewomen, as they are now 5-1 in Amherst. The team got off to a 5-0 start at home, including back-to-back weekend victories over St. John's and Army. UMass also has wins over Siena, UConn and Rhode Island at home.

On The Road Again
The Minutewomen will be playing their first road match since Feb. 12 when they beat Long Island, 5-1, at the USTA Tennis Center. The team is started a stretch of six-straight road matches, beginning Wednesday at Dartmouth and continuing through most of the month of March. The team is 2-1 in road dual matches so far this year, with the lone loss coming at No. 44 Yale. The road trip includes three matches in Charleston, S.C. as part of the team's spring break trip, as they will take on Charleston Southern, College of Charleston and Prebyterian

Fast Start
The 7-2 record for the Minutewomen is the best start since the 2000-01 season. That year, the team also started 7-2 and went on to win the Atlantic 10 Championship.

Four-Match Win Streak Snapped
The loss to the Eagles snapped a four-match winning streak for the Minutewomen. In that stretch, the squad won matches over Siena (7-0), Long Island (5-1), St. John's (4-3), and Army (5-2). The team did most of the damage in singles play, going 19-4 during those four victories, including a perfect 11-0 against Siena and Long Island. Freshmen Julia Comas and Jocelyn Providence both went undefeated during the win streak, each posting 4-0 records, while sophomore Magdalena Ploch also went unbeaten with a 3-0 record at first singles.

Scouting The Big Green
The Big Green of Dartmouth enter Thursday's matched ranked No. 57 in the country and boasting a 9-1 record on the season. The team is coming off back-to-back victories over Southern New Hampshire and Quinnipiac last week, shutting both teams out in the process. The team also had a second-place finish in the ECAC tournament this year, losing to Yale, 4-0 in the finals. In the tournament, the team knocked-off No. 63 Brown, and No. 47 Princeton. The team is led by Molly Scott, who is ranked No. 8 in the region for singles play. Scott and partner Mary Beth Winingham are also ranked as the No. 4 doubles team in the region according to the ITA.

Next Up
UMass heads to Brown next Tuesday, March 9, to take on the Bears in Providence, R.I.

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics

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