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University of Massachusets Athletics
Saturday, February 1
Amherst, Mass.
1:00 PM
University of Massachusetts
vs
Bryant
Photo by: THOM KENDALL FOR UMASS ATHLETICS
Minutewomen Ready For Split Weekend of Competition
January 31, 2020 | Tennis
Tennis challenges Bryant at home on Saturday, heads to Harvard on Sunday
THE COMPETITION
UMass (2-1 overall) continues its season with a split weekend of competition which sends the Minutewomen on the road to Harvard (2-1) on Sunday at 10 a.m., after its home match against Bryant (3-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Massachusetts last challenged Bryant during the 2018-19 season when the Minutewomen hosted the Bulldogs at the Bay Road Tennis Club. In the match, the Maroon and White shut out Bryant, 4-0 for the team's 15th win of the season. Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi sealed the doubles point when they won at No. 1 over the Bulldogs' top pairing. Ruth Crawford (No. 2), Anna Napadiy (No. 3) and Bocchi (No. 4) finished their singles matches in order for the shutout victory.
The Minutewomen last met Harvard for a dual match during the 2018-19 season, a 4-3 loss for Massachusetts. UMass dropped the doubles point, but fought valiantly in singles play and nearly rallied for victory. Down, 2-1, Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor (No. 2) and Kovacevic (No. 1) posted back-to-back wins and vaulted Massachusetts in front by a point. However, Harvard's Irene Lu squeaked by Napadiy at No. 5 singles 7-6, 7-6 before Natasha Gonzalez needed three sets against Bocchi on the No. 4 court for the 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 match-securing point.
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).
HOME COURT DEFENSE
Massachusetts played perfect tennis in its opening two home matches at the Bay Road Tennis Center with 7-0 shutouts of Binghamton and St. Bonaventure. During the back-to-back matches, the Minutewomen did not lose an individual match and finished 6-for-6 in doubles and 12-for-12 in singles.
The Minutewomen had the exact same singles lineups over the two-match weekend. In singles, it included Anna Napadiy (No. 1), Martina Bocchi (No. 2), Jovana Bogicevic (No. 3), Ashley Avery (No. 4), Jasmin Tripathy (No. 5) and Sarah Mezini (No. 6).
Those same six Minutewomen paired up for the six doubles victories. Napadiy and Bocchi held down the No. 1 spot, Bogicevic and Avery took to the No. 2 court and Tripathy and Mezini teamed up on court No. 3.
The back-to-back 7-0 shutouts were the first-such since UMass swept Bryant and Sacred Heart by the same margins on April 11 and April 12, respectively, in 2014.
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 33-13 overall record and 9-3 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 (2-1 overall) continues its season with a split weekend of competition which sends the Minutewomen on the road to Harvard (2-1) on Sunday at 10 a.m., after its home match against Bryant (3-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Massachusetts last challenged Bryant during the 2018-19 season when the Minutewomen hosted the Bulldogs at the Bay Road Tennis Club. In the match, the Maroon and White shut out Bryant, 4-0 for the team's 15th win of the season. Janja Kovacevic and Martina Bocchi sealed the doubles point when they won at No. 1 over the Bulldogs' top pairing. Ruth Crawford (No. 2), Anna Napadiy (No. 3) and Bocchi (No. 4) finished their singles matches in order for the shutout victory.
The Minutewomen last met Harvard for a dual match during the 2018-19 season, a 4-3 loss for Massachusetts. UMass dropped the doubles point, but fought valiantly in singles play and nearly rallied for victory. Down, 2-1, Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor (No. 2) and Kovacevic (No. 1) posted back-to-back wins and vaulted Massachusetts in front by a point. However, Harvard's Irene Lu squeaked by Napadiy at No. 5 singles 7-6, 7-6 before Natasha Gonzalez needed three sets against Bocchi on the No. 4 court for the 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 match-securing point.
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).
HOME COURT DEFENSE
Massachusetts played perfect tennis in its opening two home matches at the Bay Road Tennis Center with 7-0 shutouts of Binghamton and St. Bonaventure. During the back-to-back matches, the Minutewomen did not lose an individual match and finished 6-for-6 in doubles and 12-for-12 in singles.
The Minutewomen had the exact same singles lineups over the two-match weekend. In singles, it included Anna Napadiy (No. 1), Martina Bocchi (No. 2), Jovana Bogicevic (No. 3), Ashley Avery (No. 4), Jasmin Tripathy (No. 5) and Sarah Mezini (No. 6).
Those same six Minutewomen paired up for the six doubles victories. Napadiy and Bocchi held down the No. 1 spot, Bogicevic and Avery took to the No. 2 court and Tripathy and Mezini teamed up on court No. 3.
The back-to-back 7-0 shutouts were the first-such since UMass swept Bryant and Sacred Heart by the same margins on April 11 and April 12, respectively, in 2014.
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 33-13 overall record and 9-3 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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