April 19, 2012

AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass women's tennis team is set to begin Atlantic 10 Championship play tomorrow, Friday April 20 at 10:00 a.m. The top-seeded Minutewomen (14-7, 5-1 A-10) face off against #9 seeded Duquesne (12-8, 3-4 A-10), a squad that UMass defeated earlier this spring. Judy Dixon's team is currently riding a six-match winning streak as the squad is looking to capture its second Atlantic 10 Championship title in school history.

Scouting The Competition

Back February, UMass topped A-10 foe Duquense in Philadelphia by a score of 5-0. Once UMass captured the match, 5-0, the doubles portion was called off. UMass received singles wins from Yuliana Motyl (No. 1), Jess Podlofsky (No. 3), Julia Comas (No. 4), Chanel Glasper (No. 5) and Chantal Swiszcz (No. 6). All of the matches were won in straight sets with the exception of Motyl who took three frames to defeat Megan O'Sullivan.

A-10 Performer Of The Week

Because of her superb performances during the team's last three matches, Sonia Bokhari was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Performer of the Week on April 16. Bokhari went undefeated in three No. 2 singles matches against Bryant, Albany and Quinnipiac while also contributing two victories from No. 2 doubles. With her undefeated week Bokhari improved to 17-12 overall in singles and 13-7 in dual matches. Her current eight-match winning streak has provided the team with tremendous strength at the top of its singles rotation. Bokhari has also added a total of seven dual match doubles victories from various pairings this season.

The only other UMass player to receive Performer of the Week honors this season was fellow sophomore Yuliana Motyl who was given the nomination on March 5.

25 Wins

With her 6-0, 6-1 win over Quinnipiac's Erin Suvar, freshman Chanel Glasper notched her 25th overall singles win for this season, marking the most wins by any UMass tennis player in the 12 seasons that individual records started being archived. Her 25th win topped Michele Spiess's 24 win performances that occurred during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.

Glasper currently owns a 25-7 overall singles record and an eight-match winning streak. Her record of 16-5 in dual matches has come from primarily the No. 5 and No. 6 singles slots and has provided UMass with stability at the bottom of the singles rotation. The Plano, Texas native has also been a key contributor at doubles where she has added ten dual match wins this spring.

Twenty-Win Trio

While Chanel Glasper's 25 wins tops the list for this year's team, she is joined by Jessica Podlofsky and Julia Comas in the 20-win club. Podlofsky, who won 19 overall matches last season, had a standout follow-up performance with her 23-10 overall singles record. She has also added 11 total dual match doubles victories this season.

Comas, the junior co-captain, reached the 20-win threshold during the team's last regular season match at Quinnipiac. She currently owns a 20-12 overall record and a two-match singles winning streak.

Podlofsky and Comas have split time at both the No. 3 and No. 4 singles spots, compiling respective dual match records of 13-8 and 14-6.

The last UMass athlete to reach the 20-win mark was Masha Pozar who achieved the feat during the 2006-07 season, and there was no instance over the past 12 years where two athletes reached the 20-win marker.

Dual Match Dynamo

While freshman Hazuki Onaga did not compete in any tournaments or matches during the fall portion of the season, she has been a red-hot performer for the Minutewomen during the spring. Onaga has won her last five singles matches and owns the team's highest dual match singles winning percentage at .778 (7-2 record). The California native already has an A-10 Rookie Performer of the Week award under her belt and has helped the team gain seven dual match doubles victories.

Steady At The Top

In just her second season at UMass, Yuliana Motyl has performed admirably for the Minutewomen at the top two spots in the singles rotation. Motyl has posted a dual match record of 8-12, with five of those wins coming from first singles. She has won three out of her last five matches and was named the Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week for her performances during a three-match stretch from Mar. 2-4.