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University of Massachusets Athletics
Behind The Masses • UMass Tennis Blog • Entry #10
October 24, 2019 | Tennis
Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor polishes off the weekend at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships
Our ITA Northeast Regional Championships campaign ended in the Doubles Round of 16, as Martina Bocchi and Janja Kovacevic fell 8-5 to the eventual champions from Penn. It was a shame to see the match go this way as there was really no difference in ability between the two pairs, it was simply a matter of confidence once again. Some of the tennis on display was sublime, with our girls completely dominating the net and managing to withstand penetrating balls from the baseline, whilst sending their own right back. The match was incredibly tight up until 5-5; you could cut the tension with a knife as both pairs battled fiercely to gain the upper hand. However, in those crucial moments that helped tip the tie, it was the Penn team that managed to hold their nerve and come out on top as they claimed the final three games and the match.
It was a tough way to end the tournament, knowing that, once again, we could have not only competed with this high level opponent, but beaten them if only we had believed it a little further. It's safe to say that both Janja and Martina felt a little crushed and knew that the match was theirs for the taking, but there is nothing that can be done about it now. We must just learn from this match, and all of the others we played this weekend, in order to improve and gain the self-belief to win them in future.
A small consolation for Janja and Martina is that they have played their way into the UMass Tennis Record Book, becoming only the fourth pairing to make it into the Round of 16 at the ITA Northeast Regionals. This is an achievement that they should be incredibly proud of and the whole team should take as inspiration and proof of just how far this programme is coming.
Overall, it was a successful weekend at ITA Regionals and the team certainly learned a lot, with the main takeaway being that we need to just have a little confidence in ourselves! We are more than good enough to be at these events and challenging for titles, we simply need to stop going into matches with preconceptions about who we are playing and trust our own games; doing this we can beat anyone.
- Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor, sophomore, UMass tennis
