TUES., JAN. 28 • ENTRY NO. 13

UMass tennis is back in season and you know what that means: you're favourite online blog, "Behind the Masses" is back! It feels like an age since I have created an entry and I am incredibly excited to be back sharing the team's experiences with you but please do forgive me if my writing is a little rusty; my priority over break was unfortunately not honing my writing skills but being as lazy as possible, whilst celebrating Christmas and the New Year with family. On that note, I hope all of you reading this had a wonderful holiday and are excited to hear about UMass tennis' start to the 2020 season.

Arriving back on campus late on the 16th of January, we had exactly a week to prepare for our first match against Boston College. However, before practice had even begun, a spanner was thrown into the works: Jasmin's flight from Georgia had been cancelled so she would not be joining us until the 18th. It put a slight damper on the team reunion as we certainly felt her absence (I mean who wouldn't miss Jasmin's sarcastic sense of humour?) yet it still felt fantastic to be together again. It also made the impending start of season feel far closer than it had whilst we were home so we all knew that we must dive right back into training. Even though we were aware that we were going to have to push ourselves more than ever in the build up to our first match, I'm not sure any of us were prepared for the first day of practice; our bodies certainly protested the drastic change and we all became suddenly jealous of Jasmin for her extra day off… However, when she arrived the next day we did all feel quite smug watching her suffer from the intense training suddenly thrust upon her now that we had begun to adjust.

After having so little time to practice, the entire team felt surprisingly well prepared to face Boston College; it was certainly going to be a tough ask to claim victory against them in our season opener as they are a strong team. Although we are equally as good a team, the match did not go the way we had hoped as we were hampered by a lack of belief in ourselves and injury. We started well in the doubles, claiming a win at the No. 1 spot and putting up a solid fight at No. 2 but it wasn't enough. The loss of the doubles point made emerging from the day as victors seem a much harder feat. The knock to our confidence was evident as we stepped on the singles court and, although Jo and Anna put up admirable fights, taking their opponents to three sets, we were unable to regain it. Despite the effort we had put into the build up to our first dual, we fell in every singles match that day. To make matters worse, Janja and I discovered that we are still suffering from injuries sustained in the Fall and so are currently unable to compete. It was not the ideal start to our 2020 campaign but thankfully, we had the opportunity to bounce back almost immediately two days later.

Not only was our next match a chance for redemption, it was also our home opener in which we would face our first Atlantic 10 opponent in St. Bonaventure. With Janja and I out of the line up, many of the team were left to make their debuts at certain spots: Anna was to lead the team at the top of the line up; Jo would be appearing at No. 3; Ashley would be stepping into the No. 4 spot; Sarah was competing in her first dual match.

As the doubles got underway, you could feel the tension in the air; our entire team knew that it was critical to gain the first point of the tie, and the first one of the New Year for our team, so that we could begin to rebuild our confidence that had been lost in our previous match. As our top two pairs struggled to pull away from their opposition, Jasmin and Sarah channeled their nerves to claim a dominant win. It was a much needed result to relieve some of the pressure on our other two pairings and fuel our belief.

At times, it looked as if the doubles point may slip our grasp but both pairs managed to steel themselves during the tough moments, like when Anna and Martina found themselves at match point down, and emerge victorious. Getting our first point on the board in 2020 really helped to boost our energy moving into the singles and helped to make us even more determined to defend our home courts. Like in the doubles, we were forced to fight for every singles point that day as St. Bonaventure piled on the pressure; both teams were aware of the importance of gaining the first conference win of the season. Despite the challenge that we faced, our girls were relentless and earned the win in every single match, with Sarah capping off the sweep by claiming her first dual match victory! Going from 0-7 to 7-0 was certainly an interesting start to the season but it is also one that shows our team's resilience and fighting spirit; despite being knocked down by our first opponents, we spent no time wallowing and immediately picked ourselves back up.

Now that we were back on the right track, it was going to be important to reaffirm our success against Binghamton the next day.

As this was our third match in four days, everyone was understandably tired; it had been over two months since we had last competed with such intensity so we were going to have to dig deep to emerge victorious and secure our second win of the season. Whilst the six playing that day prepared themselves mentally and received pep talks from the coaches, Janja and I looked like fools as we completed our incredibly challenging rehab workout which included picking something up from the ground and placing it on the table. I'm slightly ashamed to say that as I bent down the first time, I almost popped a hamstring and shouted in pain; apparently having some time off has not made me any more flexible and I still cannot touch my toes.

Thankfully, the rest of our team was feeling a little more mobile than I was as they began to warm up. The noise as they began to hit took a while to grow but once it reached its peak, it filled the centre and had everyone feeling prepared for the start of matches. This energy did not let up throughout the entirety of doubles as our girls once again claimed wins on every court, this time in incredibly comfortable fashion. However, as we moved into singles the exhaustion from the last few days seemed to catch up with everyone as Anna found herself at 3-5, Martina at 5-6, and Ashley at 5-7; only Jo managed to best her opponent with ease, sweeping Binghamton's No. 3 off the court, losing only 1 game in the process.

Yet, tiredness would not be the reason that our girls were bested and each player battled hard, desperately trying to maintain the momentum that we had claimed from our win the previous day. The tenacity of our team paid off as Anna and Martina claimed straight sets wins and Ashley fought back to clinch the tie 5-7 6-1 6-1. Jasmin and Sarah quickly followed with swift victories that saw UMass Tennis claim it's second sweep at home in as many days.

Starting our season with such a brutal loss was a tough pill to swallow, but I cannot express my pride in my teammates for their fight and passion which allowed them to respond with two dominating wins. Not only did they bounce back so well, they all stepped up and played in higher spots than usual. The situation did not faze them at all as everyone took this change in their strides and continued to claim victory on the court. It is something that we should all take great pride and confidence in as it once again shows just how good our players are, we simply need to take this belief with us into matches against better opposition, like Boston College, so that we give ourselves the credit we deserve and make winning more likely. We are determined to make the rest of the season more like our two home matches than our one away and can't wait to get back out there on Saturday against Bryant.

Keep an eye out for more updates from me; just because I'm not playing right now doesn't mean I'm going to stop bombarding you with entries!

- Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor, sophomore, UMass tennis

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Behind The Masses • UMass Tennis Blog • Entry #13

TUES., JAN. 28 • ENTRY NO. 13

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Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor

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University of Massachusets Athletics

Behind The Masses • UMass Tennis Blog • Entry #13

TUES., JAN. 28 • ENTRY NO. 13

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Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor

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