Massachusetts Daily Collegian

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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

Woosley paces UMass tennis at the ITA Northeast Regionals

(Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian)
(Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian)

Anna Woosley was the lone woman standing for the Massachusetts women’s tennis team, as the sophomore qualified for the round of 32 at the ITA Northeast Regionals held at Yale University this past weekend.

Woosley had an impressive run through the tournament, as she won matches in the two qualifying rounds and another two in the Main Draw, before falling to Columbia’s Tina Jiang in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.

Minutewomen coach Judy Dixon said she was impressed with Woosley’s play throughout the year.

“I was very happy that (Woosley) was given the chance to qualify,” Dixon said. “She is finally realizing what it takes to be a tennis player and the mental toughness that you need. As a coach, that is great to see.”

Woosley, who was a clear underdog in the tournament, proved doubters wrong this weekend. The sophomore from West Sussex, England defeated the top-seeded player from Stony Brook, Kristina Vozniak, and as Dixon said, “beat her handily,” with a 6-2, 6-3 victory to advance to the round of 32.

“(Woosley) clearly ran out of gas in the last match,” Dixon said. “This tournament was a very big positive step for her though, and she should be very proud of it.”

As a team, there is still room for improvement, according to Dixon. The coach said that doubles play and the ability to close out matches are major things to work on. Also, she added that movement to the ball around the court is something she is hoping to see progress in.

Despite these areas for development, Dixon said there are a lot more positives to come from the most recent tournament for the Minutewomen.

“I really think we competed well as a team,” Dixon said. “This was the first time I came to this tournament with full confidence that all my ladies could win. I came in with five players I knew could win us matches.”

Depth is something that this version of the UMass tennis team has that previous teams have lacked, Dixon said. With improved players such as Carol Benito, Aarzoo Malik and Ana Yrazusta Acosta, the future looks bright for the Minutewomen.

Yrazusta in particular has stood out for UMass this season. The freshman from Spain has quietly improved and is one of the most consistent players on the team. In the weekend’s tournament, she made it to the second round where she lost a highly-contested match in a tie-breaker game to Sherry Li of Yale (4-6, 7-6, 7-5).

“(Yrazusta) is beginning to understand that she has the capability to play at a high level,” Dixon said. “She still needs to work on her backhand, serve and how to change pace in a game, but the positives are all there and by the end of this season she could be one of the best players in the conference.”

The Minutewomen lost in the Atlantic 10 conference semi-finals last year to eventual champion Virginia Commonwealth. According to Dixon, the team feels that it can take the next step this year.

“I think we have the talent and the depth this year to make it very far,” Dixon said. “This team is huge steps ahead of where we were last year. As long as we are injury-free, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be the favorites in this conference.”

With only a few more weeks left in its fall tennis schedule, Dixon said she thinks these next couple of weeks will be very important for UMass.

“This time of the year is hard because it gets cold,” Dixon said. “We need to keep working hard and stay tournament tough. These next two weeks will be very important to ending the fall on a high note so we need to keep pushing forward.”

The Minutewomen finish their fall schedule with the Big Green Invitational at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

Adam Aucoin can be reached at [email protected].

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