University of Massachusets Athletics

Sunday, March 1
Amherst, Mass.
2:00 PM

University of Massachusetts

vs

Brown

Jasmin Tripathy - 2019-20
Photo by: THOM KENDALL FOR UMASS ATHLETICS

UMass Tennis Brings Brown To Town On Sunday

February 28, 2020 | Tennis

Minutewomen host the Bears at the Bay Road Tennis Club for a 2 p.m. match

AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachusetts tennis plays at home at the Bay Road Tennis Club for its next match, a Sun., March 1 meeting with Brown University at 2 p.m. It marks the latest in a long line of head-to-head battles with the Bears, while the Minutewomen are also frequent competitors in the Brown Invitational each Fall season.


LAST TIME OUT VERSUS BROWN
In its last dual-match meeting, University of Massachusetts tennis dropped a closely-contested match against a familiar foe from the Ivy League, Brown, 4-3, in Providence, Rhode Island, on Feb. 1, 2019.

The Bears took the doubles match with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. Janja Kovacevic and Jodie Lawrence-Taylor fell to Julianna Simon and Ryan Peus, 6-4, while Ruth Crawford and Anna Napadiy also dropped their match, 6-4, to Katie Ta and Sophia Reddy. Martina Bocchi and Ashley Avery won at No. 3 doubles, 7-5, over Taylor Cosme and Julia Newman.

Massachusetts fell one singles victory shy of the comeback they achieved at defending Big East Champion St. John's on Sun., Jan. 27 with wins by Kovacevic at No. 1, Lawrence-Taylor at No. 2 and Bocchi in the No. 4 spot.

Bocchi evened the match at 1-all with her 6-4, 6-4 win over Simon, but Brown went back in front when Crawford fell at No. 3 singles 6-7, 4-6 to Reddy.

The Maroon and White posted back-to-back singles wins and inched closer to the comeback as Lawrence-Taylor and Kovacevic capped their individual wins back-to-back. Lawrence-Taylor totaled a 7-6, 6-3 outcome over Peus before Kovacevic finished off a 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 comeback over Cosme.

Brown secured the team victory with wins at No. 6 and No. 5 singles, in order.


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.


KOVACEVIC 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 34-19 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.
 
Tennis Highlights vs. Binghamton (01/26/20)
Sunday, January 26
Tennis Highlights vs. Fordham (04/19/19)
Friday, April 19
UMass vs. Rhode Island Tennis Highlights (04/18/19)
Thursday, April 18
Tennis Highlights vs. GW (03/30/19)
Saturday, March 30