AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass women's tennis team won its fourth-straight match in Sunday, beating the Black Knights of Army, 5-2, at Bay Road Tennis Club Sunday afternoon. The Minutewomen went 2-0 on the weekend against a pair of difficult opponents after defeating St. John's Saturday. The team is now 7-1 on the year, while Army drops to 5-5.
After a long, hard-fought match against St. John's on Saturday that ended with a 4-3 UMass victory, the Minutewomen had little time to rest before returning to the court for the Saturday matinee affair. The squad responded with great energy in doubles competition, sweeping the three matches to claim the doubles point for the early 1-0 advantage.
Candynce Boney and Maude Lecluyse got the team off to a great start in first doubles, defeating Anne Houghton and Jessica Ahn, 8-5. After losing a tough doubles match against St. John's the day before in a tiebreak, Magdalena Ploch and Julia Comas bounced-back with a nice, 8-4, win over Michael Tollerton and Robbie Verano. Tanisha Hodgson and Jocelyn Providence also responded after suffering their first dual match loss to St. John's on Saturday by beating Anne Hang and Audrey Hansen, 8-4.
"It was great to see us come out with so much energy in the doubles and sweep the point after a long match yesterday," said head coach Judy Dixon.
With a good crowd on hand at the Bay Road Tennis Club, the Minutewomen kept the pressure on in the singles matches. Ploch won her second-straight match at number won singles, defeating Houghton, 6-3,6-2, putting UMass on top 2-0 in the match. Boney also cruised to a win in third singles, winning , 6-3, 6-2 over Anne Hang.
Tollerton was able to grind out a three-set win over Lecluyse, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, to put Army on the board, trailing 3-1 overall in the match. After Providence, a freshman, sealed up the win Saturday, a fellow freshman was able to complete the task on Sunday. Comas was able to outlast Ahn in second singles, winning in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, to clinch the match for UMass.
The two teams would split the final two matches at fifth and sixth singles, with Robbie Verano knocking-off Kaitlyn Carpenter, 6-4, 7-5 in the fifth slot for Army. Providence would then continue to play well in the sixth spot for UMass, beating Hansen, 6-2, 6-1.
"We always play Army every year early in the season. Army is always tough and a good measuring stick for how the season is going to go. This is a good early season win for us against a very tough opponent. We hope that this is one that we can build on going forward. Now we'll rest up and get back to work on Tuesday as we prepare to visit #57 Dartmouth on Thursday."
UMass will visit 57th ranked Dartmouth on Thursday.
