2015 Women’s Season Preview: #16 Tufts JUMBOS

Tufts

Quick Facts:

Location: Medford, MA
Coach: Kate Bayard, 10th year

2012 National/Regional Ranking: #5/#3
2013 National/Regional Ranking: #17/#5
2014 National/Regional Ranking: #15/#6
2015 Preseason National/Regional Ranking: #16/#7

Twitter handle: @Jumbos_Tennis

Intro:
I have been looking forward to writing the Tufts Season Preview ever since the start of the season! My excitement stems from the fact that currently as things stand, Tufts is ranked right in the Pool C danger zone, so every match they play has big Pool C implications for them and whoever they play!! However, just this weekend, #23 Case defeated #12 Chicago in a 5-4 thriller, which made everything in the 12-23 range messy anyway. But still looking forward to Tufts’ matches.  With a strong freshman class, they are a stronger team than last year, both at the top and in depth. Their major weakness is their youth – the entire team is comprised of only sophomores and freshmen, and all three freshmen are in the starting lineup. I think this relative ‘youth’ will come into play in a number of matches, especially when they play against teams that are dangerous in doubles. I am looking forward to a lot of growth from this team as the season progresses and also over the years as the current freshmen progress to their senior years.
On another note, Tufts, currently at #16 in the nation, is and has been a very competitive team under the tutelage of Coach Bayard. But they have taken a small but notable step down since the graduation of the great Julia Browne. During the Julia Browne era, the Tufts team made it to the Elite 8 and seemed to be a stronger overall doubles playing team. This goes to show you how much of a positive influence a #1 player who is hard working, has great leadership skills, and is tremendously respected by her teammates can bring to a team. Hopefully one of these current sophomores or freshmen can aspire to the legacy of Julia Browne.

Lineup Analysis:

Tufts lost Gann (1st singles, 2nd doubles) and Bowman (4th singles, 1st doubles) to graduation, but they brought in a fairly strong freshman class in Deb (1st singles, 2nd doubles), Louks (3rd singles, 3rd doubles), and Miller (4th singles, 2nd doubles).

#1 Singles: Deb, (8.27), freshman
Athletic freshman with big swings. Highlight of the fall was making it all the way to the semifinals in the tough New England regional ITAs. Her road to the final 4 was tough, as she had to go through Quenard (Babson), Orozco (Middlebury), Ferjanic (Trinity) in 3 sets, and Ip (Amherst) in 3 sets before succumbing to Raventos (Williams). Tufts had 2 dual matches in the fall and Deb lost both matches in straight sets at #1, albeit to quality opponents Kohrs of MIT and Akgul of Babson. She is currently ranked #12 in the region but should climb.

#2 Singles: Meltzer, (7.36), sophomore
Meltzer is a deceivingly great competitor. She won both her dual match matches against MIT and Babson. On this young team, she looks to be one of the leaders.

#3 Singles: Louks, (7.94), freshman
Louks went 1-1 in dual match play this past fall.

#4 Singles: Calabro, (7.71), sophomore
Calabro also went 1-1 in dual match play. Had a good freshman campaign for the Jumbos last year.

#5 Singles: Miller, (7.78), freshman
Miller went 2-0 in dual match play this past fall

#6 Singles: Hayashi, (6.89), sophomore
Hayashi also went 2-0 in dual match play this past fall. The Jumbos are fairly deep in singles this year.

#1 Doubles: Meltzer/Calabro – ranked #11 in the region
#2 Doubles: Deb/Miller
#3 Doubles: Louks/Baum

Schedule Analysis/Pool C:
Here is Tufts’ Schedule: http://gotuftsjumbos.com/sports/wten/2014-15/schedule
Lost to #14 MIT 4-5
Beat #13 Babson 6-3
3/17 at #28 Denison
3/19 at #15 LaVerne
3/20 at #5 CMS
3/21 at #19 Redlands
3/27 v #25 Brandeis
4/3 at Colby
4/4 at #37 Bates
4/8 v #34 Wesleyan
4/11 at #18 Trinity
4/13 v #3 Amherst
4/17 at #24 Wellesley
4/18 v Conn Coll
4/19 at #2 Williams
4/23 at #6 Bowdoin

Tufts played 2 dual matches in the fall. They were both close, as they had a devastating 4-5 loss to a compromised MIT team (looking at the results, MIT’s #6 was playing at #4!), but were able to rebound with an important 6-3 win over Babson. Moving on to the spring matches, Tufts, like a lot of teams, will be going to SoCal for Spring Break. There, they will play Denison, LaVerne, CMS, and Redlands. Denison just played Chicago and although they lost 2-7, six of the nine matches could have gone either way, so they are by no means a pushover. Denison will be one of those teams that Tufts need to watch out for; Tufts definitely has the advantage in singles but not the experience in doubles. IF they get swept in doubles they are fighting for their lives in singles and that’s not how you want to play. Then we get to TUFTS v LAVERNE!!! In previous previews I have talked over and over about the Tufts v LaVerne match. But now that I’ve looked at the potential lineups for both teams, I think Tufts is favored to win this match, I’d say 7-2. However, you never know, as Tufts is not particularly strong in doubles, and LaVerne did win this match last year, which may play a part mentally for both teams. So I’m still very much looking forward to that match!
After that match they play CMS and Redlands. I think CMS is just too strong, even with Tufts’ depth in singles. Redlands will be another good match. Tufts has the advantage in singles depth, but I am not sure what will happen in the doubles portion of the match.
When they get back to Medford,they will play their usual slate of NESCAC matches plus two non-conference matches in Brandeis and Wellesley. I think both Brandeis and Wellesley will be good, competitive matches, but again, the singles depth of Tufts will get them to the W, if they can get at least 1 point in doubles in both matches. Tufts should be able to handle Colby, Bates, and Conn fairly handily. The formula for those teams to give themselves a chance would be to get ahead during the doubles. Williams and Amherst will again prove to be too much, with their doubles prowess AND depth. So this leaves the interesting matches at Trinity, Wesleyan and Bowdoin. Trinity is having a down year this year, having lost most of their starting lineup to graduation, AND they lack the doubles prowess to give themselves a chance, so I’m thinking that Tufts should take that match. Wesleyan is a big question mark. I have not seen their lineup but I believe most of their lineup is freshmen, so it will be a team even younger than Tufts! Wesleyan has one of the strongest #1s in the region/nation in Chong, AND I wouldn’t be surprised if they came in with a CAN DO attitude. They haven’t been in the national rankings in YEARS! YEARS!!! They would probably love to be the players that started a new era for Wesleyan. And Bowdoin – Bowdoin should have the upper hand in this match, as I think they are going to be the better doubles playing team and just take the momentum from there.
In terms of Pool C, Tufts needs to beat everyone that they play who is ranked below them. The big match is LaVerne, a team ranked 1 spot above them, which I think Tufts will take. This takes them one step closer. As for the other teams ranked above them, they’ve got #2 Williams, #3 Amherst, #5 CMS, and #6 Bowdoin, all of whom I think will beat Tufts. So, in order for Tufts to get into Pool C, either beating LaVerne needs to be enough to secure a spot (I STILL don’t know for sure if there are 8 or 9 spots for Pool C) OR some other stuff has to happen to the teams above them. My guess is that both will happen and Tufts gets in by the skin of their teeth.

Tufts Keys to Success:

#1. Get better in doubles. This will take some time, as the team is so young and there are no role models to follow. Usually, on a team, there will be some juniors and seniors who ‘get’ how to play doubles and the younger players see this and model them. No juniors or seniors to model after on this team.
#2. They are going to be good in singles – get confidence from that. This team has talented players up and down the lineup who are already great singles players. They will win a lot of points because of that and need to to gain confidence as they win big matches.
#3. Experience playing for each other – leaders need to emerge. Again, this is a young team. Teams need leaders in order to reach their potential. As the team goes through tough matches a leader or leaders will emerge and it will make this team that much better. Who will it be???

Well, there you go, I hope you enjoyed reading!!!!

D3NEW