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University of Massachusets Athletics
Behind The Masses • UMass Tennis Blog • Entry #12
November 05, 2019 | Tennis
Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor puts a bow on the Fall, 2019 season
TUES., NOV. 5 • ENTRY NO. 12
I've noticed that the frequency of my updates have declined throughout each invitational: at Brown I wrote three entries, at Yale it was two, and finally at Dartmouth I am only able to provide you with one summary of our weekend. I'm feeling like a bit of a lazy writer lately… However, I am going to blame head coach Juancarlos Nunez for this one; he was concerned that I have taken on a lot and it would be a little too stressful and tiring for me to provide nightly updates this tournament. Honestly, I think he was right as it was quite a tumultuous weekend. So, without further adieu, I shall regale you with tales of the final Fall 2019 tournament.I'll be honest with you, the event did not start particularly well. The warm-up had gone smoothly right up until our final doubles drill. During this exercise, each doubles pair takes turns to play at the net and have balls fired at them, forcing them to react and communicate, before a lob is fed, followed by a put away ball. Once your go is complete, you head round to the other side of the net and collect the balls. As Janja Kovacevic and I stepped up to the line, our focus was intense as we moved as one, covering the court and closing down the net. It was as Coach JC fed me a smash that things went south; as I ran back to hit it, I noticed Jasmin Tripathy standing exactly where I needed to aim and realised she wasn't paying attention. At the last minute I saw a gap in the court in which to aim and knew that I could make it and avoid a fatality. I made the gap. Sadly, Jasmin did too, running directly into my ball and, well, I'm sure you can guess how this ended… I would like to take a moment to apologise to all of Jasmin's family, friends and acquaintances for the pain I have caused them and, of course, to Jasmin herself. Whoops…
So, thanks to our little freak accident, Jasmin was written off for the weekend. Yet, we had no time to worry about that in the moment as matches were about to begin. In doubles play, we faced all of the other teams over the three days. Some great doubles was on display from all pairings, especially as we decided to mix up the partners. It's always a little tough playing with someone that you are not used to as it is far harder to work as one on the court when you haven't built trust and confidence in one another, but every pairing performed admirably. Martina Bocchi and Anna Napadiy claimed our first win against a pairing from St. John's and their energy during the match really lit up the entire Boss Tennis Centre and made UMass' presence known. A comfortable win was their reward for such a magnificent display.
Doubles wins were also claimed against Yale by Ashley Avery and Shiran Arol Wiegand, in a nail-biter of a tiebreak, Janja and Shiran, in an impressive domination against Yale's top pairing, and Martina and Anna, who once again brought an electric energy to the court. Against the home team we claimed a clean sweep, with Anna and Janja taking out their No. 1 team (shout-out to Janja for holding her ground against Conard's blazing forehand and hitting a winning volley, she's come so far!) and Ashley and Jovana Bogicevic defeating their second pair.
I don't think I have ever been quite so entertained by a doubles match as I was watching Ashley and Jo; they were all over the net and giving their opposition no room to breathe. Plus, it was quite enjoyable to see Jo get so excited after winning a point that she would charge Ashley, leaving her poor partner frozen in terror and fearing for her safety. Both made it off the court unscathed though, so no need to worry about any more freak injuries. Overall, we found great success in doubles play this weekend and proved that we can play with anyone and beat any team. The fight, desire and passion that was shown every time we stepped on the court was amazing and will be an incredibly powerful asset when it comes to the Spring.
In singles play, we also fared well, claiming seven matches over the course of the weekend, despite some players having to sit out due to injury. Wins were earned by Janja, Martina, Ashley, Jo and Shiran, as each of them displayed unyielding fight on the court and simply outsmarted their opponents. We also saw some close losses in other matches as multiple went to second and third set tie-breaks. Once again, we displayed our ability to not only compete with, but beat some of the best teams in the region; the matches that we didn't claim always seem to come down to confidence with us. It's time for us to start believing in our own abilities, knowing that each time we walk on the court, we can defeat anyone if we just trust our game styles and play to our strengths. Then, in the big moments that we are struggling with at the moment, we will be far better equipped to remain strong and come out on top.
This Fall, 2019 season has been one of immense learning; we have shown what we can achieve when we are united and believe in ourselves, but we are not yet able to do this consistently. In order to find as much success as possible in the Spring, we must be able to repeat our good days constantly, always producing the same level of fight, attitude and energy; the only way that we can do this is to believe in ourselves further. How do we manage that? I'm not sure, but we will keep trying to work it out and support one another (we totally wouldn't mind some fan mail from our supporters though to hype us up…)
Now, into the off-season we go, where we will continue to work on our games and areas of the programme; even more exciting things are coming in the Spring, 2020.
- Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor, sophomore, UMass tennis
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