.png&type=webp)
University of Massachusets Athletics
Behind The Masses • UMass Tennis Blog • Entry #3
September 16, 2019 | Tennis
Jodie Lawrence-Taylor wraps up the Brown Invitational
MON., SEPT. 16 • ENTRY NO. 3
I think that I need to rescind my closing statement from the last entry: people do not truly know what UMass is yet. They may be becoming more aware of us and our successes, but we are still the underdogs and this is only the beginning, we have so many greater milestones to achieve. We will continue to exceed the expectations of those around us and prove what we are capable of until everybody knows of the UMass Tennis Team. Today was just another page in our ongoing story, and it was certainly an exciting and memorable one.
The day started with rain, but don't worry there was no pathetic fallacy at work here, it simply delayed the start time by 30 minutes. As our wonderful coach (shout-out to Head Coach JC Nunez) worked on drying the courts with a leaf blower, we had the luxury of playing indoors on the fourth floor tennis courts of Brown's athletics building. Thankfully, the floor wasn't vibrating quite as badly as usual so we had an enjoyable practice, with Ashley stepping up to feed for the doubles drill as Coach Nunez was preoccupied. I find it a little concerning that she was so eager to launch balls straight at her teammates, but I guess we can put it down to her wanting to prepare us as thoroughly as possible.
As soon as it hit 9:30, we headed out to our doubles courts and it was incredibly refreshing being surrounded by one another; the feelings of isolation that had clouded us all week slowly began to vanish. Jo and Jasmin led the pairings in intensity and attitude, with both of them diving for balls and displaying an aggressive mindset. After one particularly important point, Jo got so excited that she attempted to high five Jasmin, but instead knocked her visor off; the look of terror on Jasmin's face certainly made Sarah and Ashley's day. Unfortunately, their fight was not enough against an equally gritty team from Dartmouth who saw them off, 6-4. Janja and Martina, and Shiran and Ashley, were also unable to emerge victorious, falling to their respective Brown and Stony Brook pairings. Only Anna and I managed to escape our doubles match unscathed.
Singles began soon after and it wasn't looking good for us. Having been split into two groups, with five girls playing outdoors and four indoors, the feelings of isolation began to return, causing the tension to rise. Our outdoor matches did not go as well as we would have liked, with all of our players giving a strong effort but ultimately being unable to find the gear needed to win. On the indoor courts it was not looking much better: Anna was 6-4 up, but set point down in the second; Janja was a set and 4-1 down; I was a set and 5-1 down, whilst also having received a point penalty for swearing (I'm sorry Mum and Dad!). Only Martina had secured a win, drawing her and Janja to 1 rubber all, by defeating an opponent she had lost to in previous years. Her variety and competitive nature was simply too much for Courtney Kowalsky to handle, allowing Martina to finish with a routine 6-2, 6-3 win and turn her attention to those of us still caught up in the midst of battle.
Seeing my two remaining compatriots struggling, I knew that I couldn't give up and, even though I may still lose, I must try to stay on court as long as possible as it might help them; I was a true martyr. I'm pretty sure my noble actions had absolutely no impact, but I'm still going to brag and take credit for the change that occurred in both of their matches from then on because I'm a good teammate like that. As I leveled my match at 5-5, having saved three match points, Anna succeeded in fending off a comeback from Jingyi Peng who had defeated her during the Spring, 2019 season. An incredible effort saw her scrambling from side-to-side, desperately keeping the point alive to reach a second set tiebreak. From this point on, she never looked back and steamrolled to a 7-1 win, blasting winners from all corners of the court. Janja also managed to claw her way back into the match, closing the gap to a 5-4 deficit before saving two consecutive match points with some of the gutsiest tennis I have ever seen. On the second match point, Janja showed no signs of fear, stepping up to the baseline to fire an inside-in forehand past her opponent and reach 5-5.
I remember witnessing the point and turning around to her afterwards to let her know what a great shot it was only to receive the response:
"Yeah, that was her match point, so I thought why not?"
If only I had the courage to do that; pretty sure I saved my opponent's match points by hitting the ball so high into the air the lights from the ceiling blinded her… A couple of games later and it was a set all on both of our courts, sending us into a match tiebreaker. Fatigue was hitting us hard by this point, but we soldiered on, desperate to achieve victory after fighting so hard to reach a decider. Janja finished first, accomplishing an incredible comeback with an impressive 10-1 tiebreak. I managed to pull through as well with a 10-6 third set, completing the miraculous day in the Flight A draw.
Finishing as semi-finalists in Flight B and undefeated in Flight A definitely sends a message to everyone out there: UMass is a team to watch out for and you should never count us out until the last shot has been played.
- Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor, sophomore, UMass tennis
