It’s finally getting to the home stretch of the spring season, and the Massachusetts tennis team is ready to face the challenge.
UMass (9-4, 3-0 Atlantic 10) has five regular season matches remaining before the A 10 championships with the first coming matchup coming at home against Albany on Saturday.
The Minutewomen have been successful in conference play with victories over Fordham, Saint Louis and Davidson, and have poised themselves for a top three seed heading into the championships if they can keep up the play.
While head coach Judy Dixon never allows her team to take any game for granted, she said UMass expects to win its next five games that begin with the Great Danes and ends with Sacred Heart.
Albany (7-6) enters the weekend matchup on a hot streak riding a three-game winning streak with its most recent win on Tuesday in a 6-1 win over A 10 foe Rhode Island.
UMass and Albany have some history. The two teams have played each other almost every year, and the Minutewomen have not lost to the Great Danes since 2008.
Although it doesn’t take much to get pumped up for matches in crunch time of the regular season, UMass doesn’t have to look very far for inspiration. Chanel Glasper is on the verge of being the most successful player in from history, as she sits three wins shy of former teammate Jessica Podlofsky, who set the record last season with 74 wins.
So far this season, Glasper is 14-6. Her play at the end of the singles rotation has been clutch, and she helped contribute to the team’s immense depth.
“She has to win three more matches to break all time record and we would like her to do that before senior day,” Dixon said,
Glasper, who has held down the number 6 singles spot for most of the season, will most likely be up against Chassidy King who is 5-5 for Albany.
“Our mental toughness has to be strong. We are looking at these next five,” Dixon said.
The Minutewomen have a history of finishing seasons strong. In each of the last two seasons, they won four of their last five games.
It is also important that UMass takes advantage of these next two games they have at home. The games against Albany and Fairleigh Dickinson will mark the last two games UMass plays at Hampshire College’s indoor facility located a few miles from campus.
The Minutewomen have called it home since the start of the season, and excel there, posting a perfect 5-0 record.
The last loss UMass suffered in the Pioneer Valley came last February against nationally ranked Boston College on February 17, 2014.
Coach Dixon expressed how much easier it is to play in indoor courts when the conditions are much more controlled.
“(Playing outside) is never our favorite time of the year,” Dixon said.
Philip Sanzo can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Philip_Sanzo.
