WESTERN, Mass.--UMass Boston women's tennis opened their season Thursday afternoon with a marathon seven hours of tennis against Mount Holyoke College and Smith College in Western Massachusetts.
THE BASICS
Mount Holyoke College 9, UMass Boston 0
(Mount Holyoke College 1-0, New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) 0-0)
Smith College 8, UMass Boston 1
(Smith College 1-0, NEWMAC 0-0)
(UMass Boston 0-2, Little East 0-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After over seven hours of competition on a hot humid day in three separate venues, junior Kelsey Shea (West Bridgewater, Mass.) captured the Beacons lone point of the day to cap off a marathon day. The junior earned a 6-1, 6-4 victory at sixth singles over Smith freshman Annina Van Riper.
On the day, UMass Boston showed a ton of heart and resilience, but fell just short across the board- amidst a series of injuries to their lineup.
Against Mount Holyoke, the Beacons fell behind 3-0 after doubles and couldn't make up any ground during singles play. Shea and fellow captain Logan Smith (Southwick, Mass.) had the most success in singles play by grabbing two games apiece, while Kathleen Conroy (Quincy, Mass.) and Nurcin Celebi (Istanbul, Turkey) pushed the Lyons third doubles team to 11 games (8-3).
The Smith match proved to be an even longer affair, as the Beacons and Pioneers were forced to move inside, after there was thunder in the middle of the first set of singles play.
UMass Boston proved to be much more competitive in the nightcap, as the Beacons second and third doubles teams fell 8-6 and 8-4 and most of the singles matches were close.
THE NUMBERS GAME
- Both matches lasted at least three hours, with the second match finishing just after the four-hour mark.
- Sophomore Meghan Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass.) made her collegiate debut and played in three matches Thursday. Erickson proved extremely competitive in her singles matches against Smith, falling 6-4, 6-0 at fifth singles.
- Vicky Woytowicz (Springfield, Mass.) and Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) also had their best match of the day in singles against Smith. Woytowicz came back from 4-0 down in the first set to fall 7-5, 6-1 at fourth singles, while Garcia dropped a competitive first singles match 6-2, 6-3.
- Thursday marked the coaching debut of former men's tennis player Charles Lai ('15). Lai is one of four former Beacons tennis players on this year's coaching staff.
NEXT UP
The Beacons will have a week to rest up before they host Emerson College next Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Boston College High School Tennis Courts. Thursday's match will mark the first meeting between the two Boston schools since 1998 and just the fourth all-time meeting.
