The Lady Beacons almost pulled off an upset on Thursday afternoon against Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, MA. The UMass Boston women’s tennis team came within in a match of toppling the Eastern Nazarene Crusaders.
Led by star aces Emily Johnson and Aurora Lormeus, the Lady Beacons lost in doubles match play 2-3, but split the singles play match 3-3. Johnson and Lormeus were the only ones to win both their doubles and singles matches. Johnson and Lormeus cruised to an 8-2 victory against their Eastern Nazarene counterparts in their doubles match with five aces, seven winners, and zero unforced errors.
In singles play Johnson and Lormeus again dominated their opponents by winning 6-2, 6-2 and 6-1, 6-2 respectively. Lormeus credited her smart play and confidence to her victory over her opponent. Johnson was more conservative in saying that her opponent was tough and had a “nice serve”, but she was the better player.
The decider came down to the match between lesser known players Brittany Engel of UMass Boston and ENC’s Jill Forrester. Forrester handled Engel in the first set 1-6, but Engel fought back hard to tie it up by taking the second set 6-4. In the end, Forrester was too much for Engel to handle and won 2-6. Later Engel admitted that she cannot handle pressure well, but still never gave up. ENC’s coach Cris Popa said that the freshman Forrester “really stepped up to the plate and brought this one home for us.”
UMass Boston’s new tennis head coach Eric Berg said that his team looked a lot better than on Tuesday. He felt that they were “more comfortable now than when they faced off against UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday.” Last year’s ace, now Asst. Coach Denise B. Ridge said, “The girls on this team have a lot of heart and I’m very proud of them.” Coach Berg was pleased with the execution of his players and thought that “they fought hard today.”
Many players on this year’s team credit Coach Berg and Coach Ridge with building a strong core and instilling confidence in this team that was lacking last year. One player claims that last year Coach Cirbus was unable to be an effective leader during the matches and that Coach Berg is able guide the girls when it matters most and lead them to victory. One player even went as far as saying, “It’s good to have a coach who knows what they’re talking about.”
Coach Berg announced that Emily Johnson and Aurora Loremus will be playing in the doubles regionals at MIT Saturday, Sept. 22. Lormeus admitted that she was nervous, but Coach Berg has a lot of confidence in the dynamic duo. Coach Berg said after today’s match, “We didn’t have our best tennis today, but the women fought hard working their way back into each match. This team has a lot of heart and we never give up. Never.”