The Massachusetts tennis team finished tied for fifth overall in the 2010 Atlantic 10 tournament on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri The Minutewomen improved their performance from last year finishing one place higher.
The A-10 tournament for UMass began with a 4-1 victory over Saint Joseph’s on Friday afternoon. Candynce Boney and Maude Lecluyse helped the Minutewomen with an 8-6 victory over Jhennifer Kedzierski and Laura Matz.
After falling in No. 2 doubles, the team of Jocelyn Providence and Kaitlyn Carpenter clinched the doubles point for UMass with a 8-3 win over Tara Walsh and Kate Dowd.
The Minutewomen clinched the victory by taking three of the four singles matches. Freshman Julia Comas raised her record to 6-2 at No. 1 singles winning, 6-1, 6-1, over Kedzierski. Both Tanisha Hodgson and Jocelyn Providence lost one game apiece in singles victories at No. 3 and No. 6 singles respectively to clinch the victory for UMass.
The Minutewomen fell 4-1 in the second round of the tournament to Temple, sending them into the consolation bracket.
Temple took the doubles point to begin the match, as Boney and Lecluyse fell 8-3 to Josephine Bergman and Katharina Mittag. Comas continued to be successful for UMass, as she continued her strong play with 6-2, 6-2 victories over Bergman.
Temple quickly regained control as it swept the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles contests to take the match. The Hawks moved on to face second-seeded Richmond in the semifinals, while UMass moved on to face Saint Louis for fifth-place overall.
UMass defeated SLU, 4-1, to earn a tie for the fifth-place spot. Top-seeded Xavier also finished fifth after beating Duquesne in its consolation match. Boney and Lecluyse seized the early momentum by defeating Casey Miller and Jenny Nalepa, 9-7. Jocelyn Providence and Kaitlyn Carpenter earned the doubles point with a 8-3 win over Mia Elmore and Sarah Septien.
While Comas fell 6-2, 6-4 to Hailee Elmore, Boney, Carpenter and Lecluyse picked up the slack with victories at No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 singles respectively.
Nine of the team’s 11 players will return next year, with Lecluyse being the lone graduating senior while sophomore Magdalena Ploch has been off the team since mid-March.
In the larger A-10 tournament, Richmond repeated as champions by defeating George Washington, 4-0. The fifth-seeded Colonials had made a strong run through the tournament, defeating St. Bonaventure, Duquesne and Charlotte. The Spiders entered the championship game after defeating Dayton, St. Louis and Temple.
The title was the seventh in school history for the Spiders. The victory also clinched a spot in next month’s NCAA tournament. Last year, Duke swept Richmond, 4-0, in the first round.
Ben Lambert can be reached at [email protected].
