Minutewomen Battle #56 Brown Wednesday

March 9, 2010

AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass women's tennis team will head to Providence, R.I. Wednesday afternoon as they take on the Bears of Brown University (4 p.m.). The Bears enter the match ranked #56 in the country and are the second-straight ranked opponent for the Minutewomen, who fell to #37 Dartmouth, 7-0, in their last match. This is the third ranked opponent for UMass this season, who are in the midst of a six-match road trip.

Last Time Out
The UMass women's tennis team fell to 37th ranked Dartmouth College, 7-0, Wednesday evening at the Boss Tennis Center. The loss drops the Minutewomen record to 7-3 on the season while the Big Green improved to 10-1.

The #37 Big Green were the highest ranked opponent the Minutewomen have face this season, as two of the three UMass losses have come at the hands of ranked opponents. The squad lost earlier this season to #44 Yale. The 7-3 record is still the best start in almost ten seasons for UMass, as the last time they started this strong they went on to win the A-10 title.

Freshman Julia Comas missed her second-straight match with an injury, making it a tough task for UMass against an already very strong opponent. The Big Green would start the day by sweeping the doubles matches to take the point and an early, 1-0, lead. One of the best doubles teams in the northeast, Molly Scott and Mary Beth Winingham defeated Magdalena Ploch and Kaitlyn Carpenter, 8-2, in first doubles, starting off the day for Dartmouth.

Carissa King and Sarah Leonard would follow that with an 8-1 win over Candynce Boney and Maude Lecluyse, while Jesse Adler and Georgie Smyser would be pushed hard by Tanisha Hodgson and Jocelyn Providence before prevailing, 8-5.

Dartmouth would continue their solid play in singles, sweeping all of the singles matches to go on to the, 7-0, win. Jocelyn Providence played an outstanding match at sixth singles, pushing Jeri Reichel into a third-set tiebreak before falling, 6-0, 4-6, 1-0.

Ploch Ranked #16 In Latest ITA Poll
UMass sophomore Magdalena Ploch (Lüdenscheid, Germany) is ranked No. 16 among singles players in the Northeast according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) latest poll. The ITA ranks singles and doubles players both nationally and regionally throughout the season.

Ploch has been solid playing in the first singles spot for the Minutewomen this season, posting a 9-3 record overall, including going 7-2 in No. 1 singles a 2-1 record in tournaments. Ploch was named UMass Athlete of the Week in November after her performance at the ITA Regional Championships, where she dispatched the No. 14 seed and two-time Patriot League Champion Annie Houghton from Army, the No. 3 seed from Harvard, Hideko Tachibana, 6-2, 6-2. Going into that match Tachibana was 12-0 with three tournament titles already this season.

This spring, Ploch has helped the Minutewomen to a 7-3 record, the team's best start since 2000-01 when the squad won the A-10 title. In the spring, Ploch is 3-3 overall with wins in No. 1 singles coming against Army, St. John's and Siena.

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 are in the midst of a six-match road trip, that began last Wednesday and continues most of the month of March. The team is 2-2 in road dual matches so far this year, with losses coming at No. 44 Yale and at No. 37 Dartmouth. 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 Minutewomen started the season with a 7-1 record before dropping their last two matches. The 7-1 start was the best for UMass since the 2000-01 season when the team won the Atlantic-10 Conference title.

Four-Match Win Streak Snapped
The loss to the Eagles on Feb. 27 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 Bears
The Brown Bears enter the week ranked #56 in the country according to ITA and #5 in the Northeast. The squad is led by Casey Herzberg, who is ranked #7 among singles players in the Northeast. The squad has back-to-back wins over Western Michigan, 6-1, and Lipscomb, 6-1. Their last loss came against #24 Vanderbilt on Feb. 27.

Next Up
UMass gets set for their spring break road trip as they head to South Carolina March 16-18 to take on Charleston Southern, College of Charleston and Presbyterian.

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics

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