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University of Massachusets Athletics
Thursday, January 23
Chestnut Hill, Mass.
4:00 PM
University of Massachusetts
at
Boston College
Photo by: THOM KENDALL FOR UMASS ATHLETICS
Tennis Starts Spring Season With Three-Match Week
January 20, 2020 | Tennis
Minutewomen travel to Boston College, play host Binghamton and St. Bonaventure
THE COMPETITION
UMass begins its spring slate with three familiar foes during the first week of action in matches at Boston College on Thurs., Jan. 23 and against St. Bonaventure (Sat., Jan. 25) and Binghamton (Sun., Jan. 26). The Minutewomen and Eagles will take to the courts in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, while both of the weekend home matches begin at the Bay Road Tennis Club at 1 p.m.
Massachusetts and Boston College met during the fall semester as well when the Minutewomen claimed two singles matches during the Yale Invitational on Sept. 27, 2019. The sides did not meet for doubles action during the three-day weekend, which also included competition against Brown, Dartmouth, Denver and Yale.
The Minutewomen last squared off with Binghamton on Feb. 9, 2019, when UMass played at Binghamton and took a 6-1 victory from the Bearcats. The Minutewomen secured the doubles point with dominant performances in all three matches. Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi posted a 6-0 shutout of Tiffany Dun and Samantha Eisenberg at No. 1 while Ruth Crawford and Ashley Avery secured the point with a 6-1 win over Emma Deimling and Maria Pandya. Jodie Lawrence-Taylor and Anna Napadiy completed the doubles sweep with a 6-2 victory at No. 2. Bocchi and Kovacevic's dominance in doubles carried over to the singles courts as Bocchi bested Deimling 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 and Kovacevic went 6-2, 6-0 over Samantha Eisenberg at No. 1. In addition to Bocchi and Kovacevic's positive outcomes, Napadiy downed Dun 6-0, 6-1 as UMass secured the team victory.
The Minutewomen did not face St. Bonaventure during Atlantic 10 play in 2018-19; however, Massachusetts shut down the Bonnies the last time the squads saw each other - a 4-0 win at Army's Lichtenberg Tennis Center on Feb. 18, 2018. UMass won No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles on forfeits as St. Bonaventure only fielded five competitors. The Minutewomen claimed the doubles point when Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi downed Mortier and Chin cleanly, 6-0. Combined with St. Bonaventure's forfeit at No. 3 doubles, Kovacevic and Bocchi's triumph sealed the doubles point. No. 6 singles automatically put the Maroon and White ahead in team scoring, 2-0 before Ana Yrazusta and Kovacevic settled the outcome with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
BEHIND THE MASSES: THE UMASS TENNIS TEAM BLOG
Follow along with the UMass tennis program throughout the 2019-20 season as sophomore English major Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor gives fans an inside look at the team via Behind The Masses, the UMass tennis team's blog. A full archive of each blog post and Q&A is available here.
SOCIAL
Keep track of the goings-on of the UMass tennis team through the program's official social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@UMassTennis).
RYCHAGOVA JOINS UMASS TENNIS COACHING STAFF
Head coach Juancarlos Nunez announced the addition of Anastasia Rychagova to the team's staff as an assistant coach on Nov. 8, 2019. Rychagova joined Nunez and the Massachusetts tennis program following a stellar career as an all-American competitor on the University of Kansas Jayhawks tennis team.
Rychagova concluded her four-year tenure as a standout at Kansas in 2018-19 as a first team all-American, the ITA Central Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team in singles and doubles. She led the Jayhawks to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen while she simultaneously advanced to the NCAA Individual Championships Round of 16.
Rychagova ranked as high as No. 1 in singles and No. 12 in doubles nationally during her Jayhawks tenure. She was lauded for her work on the court and in the classroom throughout each of her four seasons, during which Kansas won 74 matches – including 30 against Big 12 opponents – and made three team NCAA Tournament appearances. She won All-Big 12 First Team in each of her seasons and was a perennial inclusion on the Academic All-Big 12 honor roll and University of Kansas Dean's List. Rychagova graduated from Kansas with her bachelor's degree in economics in 2019.
TENNIS SIGNS TWO TO NATIONAL LETTERS OF INTENT
University of Massachusetts tennis and head coach Juancarlos Nunez announced the signing of two student-athletes to National Letters of Intent (NLIs) on Dec. 10, 2019. Danielle Hack (Surrey, England) and Helena Narmont (Tallin, Estonia) will join the program as freshman beginning with the 2020-21 school year.
Hack is currently ranks No. 1 in under 18s for Surrey and also stands No. 3 in women's for Surrey as the highest ranked player in her age group. She was an impact member of the Surrey County Cup team where the team were the runners up in the 2019 Women's Group 1 against the top competition in England. Hack won the British Under 18 National Championships in doubles during the Summer, 2019 and was also a Surrey 18-and-under singles champion.
Narmont earned a career highest ranking of 682 in the ITF World Tennis Tour Women's Ranking. She held as high a spot as No. 3 in the Estonian women's rankings and represented Estonia twice in the European Championships and a member of the Estonian National Junior Team. Narmont won the Estonian Championships in doubles, was a finalist in mixed doubles and won the bronze medal in singles. She also reached the main draw quarterfinals of the Dublin 15K ITF Pro Tournament in the Fall, 2019 and was a doubles champion of the ITF Junior tournament in Tartu, Estonia.
KOVACEVICÂ MAKES HISTORY
University of Massachusetts tennis senior Janja Kovacevic became the first Minutewoman who earned an invitation to the ITA All-American Championships with her inclusion in the 2019 field. Kovacevic and head coach Juancarlos Nunez traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for competition in the event, during which Kovacevic fell to Arkansas' Lauren Alter 6-4, 6-2 during the pre-qualifying round.
CULTIVATING IMMEDIATE SUCCESS
Head Coach Juancarlos Nunez is in the midst of his third season at the helm of the tennis program with a 31-12 overall record and 8-3 mark in the Atlantic 10. The team reached the Atlantic 10 Championship Match during the 2017-18 campaign before it earned a spot in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinal Round in 2018-19. The 18 wins earned during the 2018-19 season and the .783 win percentage (18-5 overall) marked the second-highest single-season totals in the four-decade history of the program.
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UMass begins its spring slate with three familiar foes during the first week of action in matches at Boston College on Thurs., Jan. 23 and against St. Bonaventure (Sat., Jan. 25) and Binghamton (Sun., Jan. 26). The Minutewomen and Eagles will take to the courts in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, while both of the weekend home matches begin at the Bay Road Tennis Club at 1 p.m.
Massachusetts and Boston College met during the fall semester as well when the Minutewomen claimed two singles matches during the Yale Invitational on Sept. 27, 2019. The sides did not meet for doubles action during the three-day weekend, which also included competition against Brown, Dartmouth, Denver and Yale.
The Minutewomen last squared off with Binghamton on Feb. 9, 2019, when UMass played at Binghamton and took a 6-1 victory from the Bearcats. The Minutewomen secured the doubles point with dominant performances in all three matches. Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi posted a 6-0 shutout of Tiffany Dun and Samantha Eisenberg at No. 1 while Ruth Crawford and Ashley Avery secured the point with a 6-1 win over Emma Deimling and Maria Pandya. Jodie Lawrence-Taylor and Anna Napadiy completed the doubles sweep with a 6-2 victory at No. 2. Bocchi and Kovacevic's dominance in doubles carried over to the singles courts as Bocchi bested Deimling 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 and Kovacevic went 6-2, 6-0 over Samantha Eisenberg at No. 1. In addition to Bocchi and Kovacevic's positive outcomes, Napadiy downed Dun 6-0, 6-1 as UMass secured the team victory.
The Minutewomen did not face St. Bonaventure during Atlantic 10 play in 2018-19; however, Massachusetts shut down the Bonnies the last time the squads saw each other - a 4-0 win at Army's Lichtenberg Tennis Center on Feb. 18, 2018. UMass won No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles on forfeits as St. Bonaventure only fielded five competitors. The Minutewomen claimed the doubles point when Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi downed Mortier and Chin cleanly, 6-0. Combined with St. Bonaventure's forfeit at No. 3 doubles, Kovacevic and Bocchi's triumph sealed the doubles point. No. 6 singles automatically put the Maroon and White ahead in team scoring, 2-0 before Ana Yrazusta and Kovacevic settled the outcome with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
BEHIND THE MASSES: THE UMASS TENNIS TEAM BLOG
Follow along with the UMass tennis program throughout the 2019-20 season as sophomore English major Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor gives fans an inside look at the team via Behind The Masses, the UMass tennis team's blog. A full archive of each blog post and Q&A is available here.
SOCIAL
Keep track of the goings-on of the UMass tennis team through the program's official social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@UMassTennis).
RYCHAGOVA JOINS UMASS TENNIS COACHING STAFF
Head coach Juancarlos Nunez announced the addition of Anastasia Rychagova to the team's staff as an assistant coach on Nov. 8, 2019. Rychagova joined Nunez and the Massachusetts tennis program following a stellar career as an all-American competitor on the University of Kansas Jayhawks tennis team.
Rychagova concluded her four-year tenure as a standout at Kansas in 2018-19 as a first team all-American, the ITA Central Player of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team in singles and doubles. She led the Jayhawks to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen while she simultaneously advanced to the NCAA Individual Championships Round of 16.
Rychagova ranked as high as No. 1 in singles and No. 12 in doubles nationally during her Jayhawks tenure. She was lauded for her work on the court and in the classroom throughout each of her four seasons, during which Kansas won 74 matches – including 30 against Big 12 opponents – and made three team NCAA Tournament appearances. She won All-Big 12 First Team in each of her seasons and was a perennial inclusion on the Academic All-Big 12 honor roll and University of Kansas Dean's List. Rychagova graduated from Kansas with her bachelor's degree in economics in 2019.
TENNIS SIGNS TWO TO NATIONAL LETTERS OF INTENT
University of Massachusetts tennis and head coach Juancarlos Nunez announced the signing of two student-athletes to National Letters of Intent (NLIs) on Dec. 10, 2019. Danielle Hack (Surrey, England) and Helena Narmont (Tallin, Estonia) will join the program as freshman beginning with the 2020-21 school year.
Hack is currently ranks No. 1 in under 18s for Surrey and also stands No. 3 in women's for Surrey as the highest ranked player in her age group. She was an impact member of the Surrey County Cup team where the team were the runners up in the 2019 Women's Group 1 against the top competition in England. Hack won the British Under 18 National Championships in doubles during the Summer, 2019 and was also a Surrey 18-and-under singles champion.
Narmont earned a career highest ranking of 682 in the ITF World Tennis Tour Women's Ranking. She held as high a spot as No. 3 in the Estonian women's rankings and represented Estonia twice in the European Championships and a member of the Estonian National Junior Team. Narmont won the Estonian Championships in doubles, was a finalist in mixed doubles and won the bronze medal in singles. She also reached the main draw quarterfinals of the Dublin 15K ITF Pro Tournament in the Fall, 2019 and was a doubles champion of the ITF Junior tournament in Tartu, Estonia.
KOVACEVICÂ MAKES HISTORY
University of Massachusetts tennis senior Janja Kovacevic became the first Minutewoman who earned an invitation to the ITA All-American Championships with her inclusion in the 2019 field. Kovacevic and head coach Juancarlos Nunez traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for competition in the event, during which Kovacevic fell to Arkansas' Lauren Alter 6-4, 6-2 during the pre-qualifying round.
CULTIVATING IMMEDIATE SUCCESS
Head Coach Juancarlos Nunez is in the midst of his third season at the helm of the tennis program with a 31-12 overall record and 8-3 mark in the Atlantic 10. The team reached the Atlantic 10 Championship Match during the 2017-18 campaign before it earned a spot in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinal Round in 2018-19. The 18 wins earned during the 2018-19 season and the .783 win percentage (18-5 overall) marked the second-highest single-season totals in the four-decade history of the program.
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