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University of Massachusets Athletics
Thursday, April 18
Amherst, Mass.
1:15 PM
University of Massachusetts
vs
Rhode Island
Photo by: Jon Crispin
Tennis Caps Regular Season With Back-To-Back Home Matches
April 17, 2019 | Tennis
Minutewomen host Rhode Island on Thursday, hold senior day vs. Fordham on Friday
AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachuetts tennis closes out the regular season and makes its final preparations for the Atlantic 10 Championship with back-to-back home matches against Rhode Island and Fordham. Rhody visits town on Thurs., April 18 for a 1:15Â p.m. tilt before Fordham arrives the next day at 2 p.m.
Last Time Out: Massachusetts 4, Bryant 0
University of Massachusetts tennis finished non-conference play and its road schedule with a 4-0 shutout of Bryant in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on Sun., April 14. Taking the final road match of the year improved Massachusetts to 7-3 away from home and 15-4 overall.
In doubles, Massachusetts won at No. 1 and No. 3 for the first point of the day. Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi bested Ada Boru and Sarah Hickey 6-3 in the No. 1 match before Ruth Crawford and Ashley Avery took an identical match from Leanne Kendall and Gabrielle Bergeron at No. 3.
With the one-point lead, Massachusetts quickly worked through singles play for the shutout. Crawford doubled the team's lead with her 6-0, 6-2 dominance over Sarah Hickey at No. 2 and Anna Napadiy took a 6-1, 6-0 match from Aleksi Gottlieb at No. 3. Bocchi finished the match with her win at No. 4 over Megan Tan 6-1, 6-4.
Senior Day Celebration
University of Massachusetts tennis hosts its Senior Day on Friday against Fordham when the squad recognizes its lone senior, Ruth Crawford. The Atlanta, Georgia, native enters the week's slate with a 126-93 combined record (57-54, singles; 69-39, doubles). While seeing the majority of her action at No. 3 in singles and doubles this season, Crawford is 21-5 in doubles and 16-11 in singles.
Kovacevic, Lawrence-Taylor Win A-10 Weekly Awards Again
Janja Kovacevic earned Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week and freshman Jodie Lawrence-Taylor totaled her third A-10 Rookie of the Week Award, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Kovacevic shared the honor with Duquesne's Laurel Shymansky for her second in a row after Kovacevic took home the Feb. 19 accolade individually.
Kovacevic produced a dominant weekend in leading UMass to a pair of comfortable victories over Quinnipiac, 7-0, and LIU Brooklyn, 6-1. Kovacevic started her weekend on Saturday with a 6-0 shutout of Quinnipiac's top doubles pairing alongside her playing partner, Martina Bocchi, followed by a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing of QU's best singles player and the 2018 MAAC Player & Rookie of the Year, Dominique Vasile, en route to the team's shutout win.
Against LIU Brooklyn, the Zemun, Serbia product and Bocchi notched a tiebreaker victory, 7-5, at No. 1 doubles before the junior produced a 6-4, 6-4 triumph at No. 1 singles over Anna Grigoryan, the 2017 & 2018 NEC Player of the Year.
Lawrence-Taylor held down the No. 2 doubles spot alongside Anna Napadiy and the No. 2 singles spot en route to a 4-0 week. The London native only dropped one doubles game and did not drop a singles set during the weekend, in which the Minutewomen faced the 2018 MAAC Champions (Quinnipiac) and the 2018 NEC Champions (LIU Brooklyn).
The freshman downed Quinnipiac's No. 2 doubles pairing, 6-1 and provided a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over Jennifer Lu, the MAAC Championship Most Outstanding Performer in 2018. Lawrence-Taylor kickstarted the team's win over LIU Brooklyn's with a sweep of the Blackbirds' No. 2 doubles pair, 6-0, alongside Napadiy, before providing the decisive fourth team point with her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jessica Brzozowska, who won All-NEC First Team in 2018.
Massachusetts Sweeps A-10 Weekly Awards Following Back-To-Back Dominant Efforts
Junior Janja Kovacevic and freshman Jodie Lawrence-Taylor swept the Atlantic 10 Conference weekly women's tennis accolades with Kovacevic named the player of the week and Lawrence-Taylor the rookie of the week, as announced by the league office on Wednesday. It marks Kovacevic's first A-10 Player of the Week accolade of the year and Lawrence-Taylor's second rookie laurel in three weeks.
UMass tennis claimed identical 6-1 wins at Binghamton and at Marist College on Sat., Feb. 9 and Sun., Feb. 10, respectively, as Kovacevic notched three individual victories in as many matches played. Kovacevic won alongside Martina Bocchi at No. 1 doubles against Binghamton and Marist by 6-0 and 6-2 margins, respectively. In singles, Kovacevic played at No. 1 against Binghamton's top player, Samantha Eisenberg, and posted a 6-2, 6-0 win.
Lawrence-Taylor also collected three wins on the weekend, two at doubles and one at singles. She teamed with Anna Napadiy for a pair of wins at No. 2 doubles, 6-2 over Binghamton and 6-0 at Marist. Lawrence-Taylor completed the perfect day at Marist with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of the Red Foxes' top competitor at No. 1 singles.
UMass Tennis Receives Grant Recognizing ITA Community Service Commitment
• University of Massachusetts tennis received unique recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) for its civic commitment as one of only three programs nationally to earn ITA Community Service Month grants on Wednesday, as announced by the ITA.
• All teams that performed 20-plus hours of community service were entered in a drawing, where the team selected received a $500 ITA grant and the University of Massachusetts team took home the prize. During the month of October, the team was involved in assisting Habitat for Humanity.
• In addition to the University of Massachusetts' grant, the College of Charleston team won the Limoneira Hours Challenge while the University of Alabama Birmingham generated the most social media engagement and earned an ITA grant as a result.
Shiran Arol Wiegand Joins UMass Tennis Family
• The University of Massachusetts tennis and head coach Juancarlos Nunez announced the signing of Shiran Arol Wiegand to a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 19, 2018. An accomplished competitor in her native Israel as well as internationally, Arol Wiegand joins the program following two years of military service in her home country.
• Ranked as high as 618 in the ITF Juniors highlighted by reaching the Singles Final of the ITF G4 in Bat Yam, Israel, Arol Wiegand rached No. 2 in the Israeli Junior rankings and No. 8 in the Israeli Women's rankings. Additionally, she represented Israel in the Maccabiah World Games, winning the silver in mixed doubles in 2017, and is currently serving in the Israeli Army before she starts at UMass in the Fall, 2019.
Landmark Success For Massachusetts Dots ITA Northeast Regional Outcomes
• Massachusetts tennis sent four competitors to the 2018 holding of the ITA Northeast Regional at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, which included trips to the singles bracket Round of 16 by Janja Kovacevic and Jodie Lawrence-Taylor.Â
• Kovacevic avoided the first round thanks to her No. 22 seeding for the tournament, and bested Princeton's Nathalie Rodilosso as well as No. 11 Jennifer Kerr from Columbia to reach the Sweet Sixteen. Lawrence-Taylor needed three wins to reach the final 16 spots as she outperformed Quinnipiac's Dominique Vasile (first round), the No. 14 seed in Columbia's Melissa Sakar (second round) and No. 19 seed Natasha Irani from Boston College (round of 32).
Back For Another Round
• Massachusetts returns eight members from its 2017-18 squad, including senior Ruth Crawford, juniors Ashley Avery, Martina Bocchi, Tami Comins and Janja Kovacevic and sophomores Jovana Bogicevic, Sarah Mezini and Anna Napadiy. Crawford, the team's captain, was an Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team selection as a junior one year ago while Kovacevic earned second team accolades as a sophomore.
• The returnees include four of the six primary singles competitors from last season in the No. 1 (Crawford), No. 3 (Kovacevic), No. 5 (Napadiy) and No. 6 (Bocchi) players. Crawford and Kovacevic were also primarily paired at No. 2 doubles while Napadiy played alongside Avery at No. 3 doubles.Â
Last Time Out: Massachusetts 4, Bryant 0
University of Massachusetts tennis finished non-conference play and its road schedule with a 4-0 shutout of Bryant in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on Sun., April 14. Taking the final road match of the year improved Massachusetts to 7-3 away from home and 15-4 overall.
In doubles, Massachusetts won at No. 1 and No. 3 for the first point of the day. Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi bested Ada Boru and Sarah Hickey 6-3 in the No. 1 match before Ruth Crawford and Ashley Avery took an identical match from Leanne Kendall and Gabrielle Bergeron at No. 3.
With the one-point lead, Massachusetts quickly worked through singles play for the shutout. Crawford doubled the team's lead with her 6-0, 6-2 dominance over Sarah Hickey at No. 2 and Anna Napadiy took a 6-1, 6-0 match from Aleksi Gottlieb at No. 3. Bocchi finished the match with her win at No. 4 over Megan Tan 6-1, 6-4.
Senior Day Celebration
University of Massachusetts tennis hosts its Senior Day on Friday against Fordham when the squad recognizes its lone senior, Ruth Crawford. The Atlanta, Georgia, native enters the week's slate with a 126-93 combined record (57-54, singles; 69-39, doubles). While seeing the majority of her action at No. 3 in singles and doubles this season, Crawford is 21-5 in doubles and 16-11 in singles.
Kovacevic, Lawrence-Taylor Win A-10 Weekly Awards Again
Janja Kovacevic earned Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week and freshman Jodie Lawrence-Taylor totaled her third A-10 Rookie of the Week Award, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Kovacevic shared the honor with Duquesne's Laurel Shymansky for her second in a row after Kovacevic took home the Feb. 19 accolade individually.
Kovacevic produced a dominant weekend in leading UMass to a pair of comfortable victories over Quinnipiac, 7-0, and LIU Brooklyn, 6-1. Kovacevic started her weekend on Saturday with a 6-0 shutout of Quinnipiac's top doubles pairing alongside her playing partner, Martina Bocchi, followed by a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing of QU's best singles player and the 2018 MAAC Player & Rookie of the Year, Dominique Vasile, en route to the team's shutout win.
Against LIU Brooklyn, the Zemun, Serbia product and Bocchi notched a tiebreaker victory, 7-5, at No. 1 doubles before the junior produced a 6-4, 6-4 triumph at No. 1 singles over Anna Grigoryan, the 2017 & 2018 NEC Player of the Year.
Lawrence-Taylor held down the No. 2 doubles spot alongside Anna Napadiy and the No. 2 singles spot en route to a 4-0 week. The London native only dropped one doubles game and did not drop a singles set during the weekend, in which the Minutewomen faced the 2018 MAAC Champions (Quinnipiac) and the 2018 NEC Champions (LIU Brooklyn).
The freshman downed Quinnipiac's No. 2 doubles pairing, 6-1 and provided a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over Jennifer Lu, the MAAC Championship Most Outstanding Performer in 2018. Lawrence-Taylor kickstarted the team's win over LIU Brooklyn's with a sweep of the Blackbirds' No. 2 doubles pair, 6-0, alongside Napadiy, before providing the decisive fourth team point with her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jessica Brzozowska, who won All-NEC First Team in 2018.
Massachusetts Sweeps A-10 Weekly Awards Following Back-To-Back Dominant Efforts
Junior Janja Kovacevic and freshman Jodie Lawrence-Taylor swept the Atlantic 10 Conference weekly women's tennis accolades with Kovacevic named the player of the week and Lawrence-Taylor the rookie of the week, as announced by the league office on Wednesday. It marks Kovacevic's first A-10 Player of the Week accolade of the year and Lawrence-Taylor's second rookie laurel in three weeks.
UMass tennis claimed identical 6-1 wins at Binghamton and at Marist College on Sat., Feb. 9 and Sun., Feb. 10, respectively, as Kovacevic notched three individual victories in as many matches played. Kovacevic won alongside Martina Bocchi at No. 1 doubles against Binghamton and Marist by 6-0 and 6-2 margins, respectively. In singles, Kovacevic played at No. 1 against Binghamton's top player, Samantha Eisenberg, and posted a 6-2, 6-0 win.
Lawrence-Taylor also collected three wins on the weekend, two at doubles and one at singles. She teamed with Anna Napadiy for a pair of wins at No. 2 doubles, 6-2 over Binghamton and 6-0 at Marist. Lawrence-Taylor completed the perfect day at Marist with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout of the Red Foxes' top competitor at No. 1 singles.
UMass Tennis Receives Grant Recognizing ITA Community Service Commitment
• University of Massachusetts tennis received unique recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) for its civic commitment as one of only three programs nationally to earn ITA Community Service Month grants on Wednesday, as announced by the ITA.
• All teams that performed 20-plus hours of community service were entered in a drawing, where the team selected received a $500 ITA grant and the University of Massachusetts team took home the prize. During the month of October, the team was involved in assisting Habitat for Humanity.
• In addition to the University of Massachusetts' grant, the College of Charleston team won the Limoneira Hours Challenge while the University of Alabama Birmingham generated the most social media engagement and earned an ITA grant as a result.
Shiran Arol Wiegand Joins UMass Tennis Family
• The University of Massachusetts tennis and head coach Juancarlos Nunez announced the signing of Shiran Arol Wiegand to a National Letter of Intent on Nov. 19, 2018. An accomplished competitor in her native Israel as well as internationally, Arol Wiegand joins the program following two years of military service in her home country.
• Ranked as high as 618 in the ITF Juniors highlighted by reaching the Singles Final of the ITF G4 in Bat Yam, Israel, Arol Wiegand rached No. 2 in the Israeli Junior rankings and No. 8 in the Israeli Women's rankings. Additionally, she represented Israel in the Maccabiah World Games, winning the silver in mixed doubles in 2017, and is currently serving in the Israeli Army before she starts at UMass in the Fall, 2019.
Landmark Success For Massachusetts Dots ITA Northeast Regional Outcomes
• Massachusetts tennis sent four competitors to the 2018 holding of the ITA Northeast Regional at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, which included trips to the singles bracket Round of 16 by Janja Kovacevic and Jodie Lawrence-Taylor.Â
• Kovacevic avoided the first round thanks to her No. 22 seeding for the tournament, and bested Princeton's Nathalie Rodilosso as well as No. 11 Jennifer Kerr from Columbia to reach the Sweet Sixteen. Lawrence-Taylor needed three wins to reach the final 16 spots as she outperformed Quinnipiac's Dominique Vasile (first round), the No. 14 seed in Columbia's Melissa Sakar (second round) and No. 19 seed Natasha Irani from Boston College (round of 32).
Back For Another Round
• Massachusetts returns eight members from its 2017-18 squad, including senior Ruth Crawford, juniors Ashley Avery, Martina Bocchi, Tami Comins and Janja Kovacevic and sophomores Jovana Bogicevic, Sarah Mezini and Anna Napadiy. Crawford, the team's captain, was an Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team selection as a junior one year ago while Kovacevic earned second team accolades as a sophomore.
• The returnees include four of the six primary singles competitors from last season in the No. 1 (Crawford), No. 3 (Kovacevic), No. 5 (Napadiy) and No. 6 (Bocchi) players. Crawford and Kovacevic were also primarily paired at No. 2 doubles while Napadiy played alongside Avery at No. 3 doubles.Â
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