BOSTON, Mass.—Fifth-seeded UMass Boston women's tennis (6-6, 4-4 Little East) is looking to pull off the upset Tuesday afternoon, as the Beacons travel to intra-state rivals #4 UMass Dartmouth (8-6, 5-3 Little East) Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
UMass Boston earned their second playoff appearance in the past three years, thanks to a program-record four conference victories. UMass Boston finished 3-1 in four home conference matches and swept the four teams below them in the conference standings, to earn their highest finish in the Little East standings since 2001, when the Beacons finished in fourth place out of six teams.
UMass Dartmouth earned their eighth-straight postseason appearance under the current LEC Tournament format, thanks to a 5-3 mark in conference play. After a 1-2 start to their LEC season, the Corsairs won four of their final five conference matches, including three in a row by a 25-2 score.
ALL-TIME SERIES
The Corsairs own a 13-1 all-time advantage over women's tennis, including 12 consecutive victories. After the Beacons took the first matchup by a 6-3 score in 2001, UMass Dartmouth has won all 12 meetings since.
This will be the second time in three years the Corsairs and Beacons have met in the postseason, with third-seeded UMass Dartmouth earning a 5-2 win over sixth-seeded UMass Boston in 2013.
FIRST MEETING
UMass Dartmouth defeated the Beacons 8-1 at the UMD Tennis Courts on October 8. The Corsairs took two of three doubles points, but all three matches were tightly contested. UMass Boston's Vicky Woytowicz (Springfield, Mass.) and Kelsey Shea (West Bridgewater, Mass.) took a point at second doubles (8-6), while the Corsairs won 9-8 (7-3) at first doubles and 8-5 at third doubles.
In singles action, the Corsairs took all six points, but Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) forced a third set super tiebreaker at first singles and Shea's first set went to a tiebreak at sixth singles.
SCOUTING THE CORSAIRS
UMass Dartmouth fulfilled their Little East Conference Preseason Poll projection, as they were the fourth-best team during the regular season, behind the "Big Three" in the conference. After a 3-4 start to the season, Doug Champman's side went 5-2 to close out the season, including winning four of their final five matches overall.
Senior Kristen Rose and sophomore Molly McCaffrey have been the team's top two players all season long, as they both have earned a team-high 12 singles win, 14 doubles victories and 26 overall wins. Rose enters postseason play on an eight-match winning streak at fourth singles, while she and McCaffrey have combined to win five-straight at third doubles. Freshman Jenny Lahaie ranks third on the team with 11 singles wins, including six in a row at first singles, and 21 total victories.
SCOUTING THE BEACONS
UMass Boston is making their fourth trip to the Little East Conference Tournament in seven years, thanks to bringing back one of the most experienced rosters in program history. Head coach Eric Berg returned a program-record six players from last year's team and that experience has helped the Beacons pull through in several close conference matches.
Shea leads the Beacons with her seven singles wins and 13 overall victories, while senior Nurcin Celebi (Istanbul, Turkey) is second with her six singles victories and 12 total wins. Shea and Celebi both enter postseason play riding two-match winning streaks in singles play, while the Beacons' top doubles pairing of Logan Smith (Soutwick, Mass.) and Garcia have won three-straight matches at first doubles.
LOOKING FORWARD
The winner of Tuesday's match will travel to number one Rhode Island College Thursday afternoon.
