University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Massachusetts
Huskies Drop Heartbreaker to UMass
4/3/2019 9:21:00 PM | Women's Tennis
STORRS, Conn. – The UConn women's tennis team hosted regional rival UMass on Wednesday on the UConn Tennis Courts on campus with the Minutewomen edging out the Huskies in a closely contested match, 4-3.
"This was a tough loss to our longtime New England rival," commented head coach Glenn Marshall. "Over the last 10-plus years, we have almost always had the score end 4-3 against UMass but unfortunately, this year we were on the losing end and it stings."
Wednesday's match was a battle right from the start with the doubles point coming down to the match at No. 3. UConn and UMass split the first two matches with the Husky team-up of freshmen Julieanne Bou (Baymon, Puerto Rico) and Mireille Moreau (Warwick, Quebec) grabbing a 6-1 win at No. 2 over Ruth Crawford and Ashley Avery.
UConn's No. 3 team of senior Jacqueline Lazaro (Largo, Fla.) and junior Cassie Chung (Vancouver, British Columbia) found themselves in a 5-2 hole to Anna Napadiy and Jasmin Tripathy but refused to go down, battling all the way back to a 7-6 victory to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead into singles play.
"We had an amazing doubles match at number 3 with Chung and Lazaro," stated Marshall. "They were down 5-2 and rallied back to win the match 7-6 and clinch the doubles point for the team. We went into singles with a bunch of confidence, and our two freshman had great days. Bou and Moreau won both of their singles and doubles matches."
Bou was a double winner on Wednesday and gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead in the match by posting a 6-2, 6-3 win over Crawford at No. 2, her 15th win on the season. Fellow rookie Moreau was also a double winner, posting a three-set victory at No. 3 to put the Huskies up 3-1 in the match. Morea won the first set 6-4 over Martina Bocchi, lost the second set 6-2 and then bounced back in the third for a 6-2 win.
UMass would pull the match even at 3-3 after a battle at No. 1 where Janja Kovacevic had to fight off UConn senior Jacquelyn Fitz-Randolph (Tampa, Fla.), 7-6 (8) and 7-6 (5). That left it to the No. 6 singles match to decide it where UConn sophomore Elizabeth Kozyi (Alexandria, Va.) lost a heartbreaker in three sets, 6-4, 5-7 and 6-2 to Jasmin Tripathy.
"Our entire team fought and put in the effort, but we just couldn't find that fourth team point for the win," said Marshall. "We need to recover from this quickly and get our focus on Friday's Senior day match against Bryant."
The Huskies will close their home schedule on Friday afternoon hosting the Bryant Bulldogs on Senior Day.
Players Mentioned
