Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Tennis splits weekend in Ohio

The Massachusetts tennis team used a reworked lineup and timely doubles play to defeat Dayton, 6-1, returning to the win column Saturday.

After dropping her first set, No. 4 singles saw Chanel Glasper effectively thwart any potential Flyers comeback, winning her match in a 10-1 tiebreaker over Katie Boeckman. The victory followed a narrow loss for UMass No. 3 Jessica Podlofsky, who lost to Maureen Stephens, 10-6, in a tiebreaker.

Strong performances from each of the three doubles duos allowed the Minutewomen (10-3) to capture the opening point of the match. The Flyers (5-12) struggled to recover, as UMass’ No. 1 Sonia Bokhari, No. 2 Yuliana Motyl, No. 5 Jocelyn Providence and No. 6 Chantal Swiszcz all won their matches handily, winning in straight sets.

The top of the Minutewomen lineup looked slightly different Saturday, as Bokhari moved to the No. 1 and Motyl rotated to No. 2, while Providence filled in at the fifth slot.

Coach Judy Dixon made the moves to keep her players alert while also adjusting to the loss of Arielle Griffin, who did not play due to sickness.

“Because one is a tough position to win and my two top players are pretty comparable, I like to flip them around when I can to give them a different look on a different day. With Arielle being sick, everybody had to step up,” Dixon said.

Despite a tough loss less than 24 hours before to conference foe Xavier, Dixon was pleased with her squad’s performance, a theme which has continued all season.

“After coming back from Xavier, the change made it good for them. Knowing that everybody was playing in a different position gave them good energy and focus,” Dixon said. “I think it’s a testament to their character. This team goes out and fights no matter what, they always want to play against the best.”

UMass returns to action Friday as it visits Boston College.

UMass edged by Xavier

In a match with potential Atlantic 10 Conference Championship implications on the line, UMass was unable to secure the road victory, losing 4-3.

The loss gave UMass its first conference defeat of the year, while Xavier (9-4, 3-0 A-10) maintained a perfect conference record.

It was an evening of close matches which began with the doubles point, as the point came down to the No. 3 pairings. Minutewomen Podlofsky and Griffin secured the team point, narrowly defeating Daniella Patton and Andrea Wolf, 9-7.

The Musketeers answered decisively, winning four of six possible singles matches. The deciding match came between No. 3 Kally Alkire and Podlofsky. With the score knotted at three apiece, Podlofsky pushed the match to the only tiebreaking set of the night, winning her second set 6-4 after dropping the first set, 3-6. But Alkire responded in the tiebreaker, winning 6-1 and defeating UMass.

Dixon did not underestimate the difficulty of winning on the road, especially in an environment such as Xavier’s.

“The difference for us, and there’s very little difference between the top schools in the A-10, was being away,” Dixon said. “Xavier really brings the crowd, and they made a lot of noise. The courts were also much faster than what we play on, which definitely made the difference in the deciding match.”

However, the Minutewomen can still move forward despite the difficult loss.

“What you don’t want to do is have a loss that affects your entire year,” Dixon said. “If we take care of Temple, the potential seed will still be what we want, and we can play Xavier in the semis. We haven’t done anything we can’t come back from.”

UMass returns to action Friday as it visits Boston College. The game is scheduled for a 5 p.m. start.

Mark Chiarelli can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All Massachusetts Daily Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *