MEDFORD, MA (May 8, 2025) - The No. 15 Tufts University women's tennis team kicks off their NCAA Tournament journey on Friday as they trek up to Maine to play Nichols College at the Woodlands Club hosted by Bowdoin. The Jumbos look to build off of their appearance in the NCAA Individual Championships last year as they contend in the National Tournament as a team for the first time since 2022.
Match Details
Championship Website
Date: Friday, May 9, 2025 - Sunday, May 11, 2025
Location: Brunswick, Maine - The Woodlands Club
Live Coverage: Live Stats -
Live Video
Weekend Schedule
Friday, May 9:
The College of New Jersey vs Hartwick, 2:00 pm
Tufts vs Nichols, 4:30 pm
Saturday, May 10:
Bowdoin vs TCNJ/Hartwick, 12:00 pm
M.I.T. vs Tufts/Nichols, 3:00 pm
Sunday, May 11:
Regional Final, 2:00 pm
A Look at the Jumbos (15-6):
The Jumbos saw their NESCAC Tournament cut short after a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of No. 13 Amherst, but will look to build off of a very successful regular season as they enter the NCAA Tournament. They started their season with a nine game win streak, but a 5-5 record over their last 10 games reflects some very difficult competition in the later parts of the spring.
Tufts is led by first year
Melanie Woodbury after she burst onto the scene this spring. The rookie holds the No. 27 ranking in the individual ITA polls after her 16-10 record in singles play. She has largely played from the number one position in singles, finishing the season with an 11-9 record in doubles play.
Sophomore
Natalie Hu enters the tournament following a strong regular season as well. She finished the spring with a 9-7 record in the singles and a 13-9 record in the doubles. She played mostly with Woodbury in the number one doubles position, and played as high as the number two position and as low as the number six in the singles.
Junior
Ellie Gershaw enters the NCAA Tournament with a 12-10 record in singles play and a 9-4 record in the doubles. She played most of the season from the number two position in the singles, and will pose a threat in the doubles as well after finishing 6-1 from the number three position.
Nikki Kintiroglu holds an 8-2 singles record as she enters the national play, and backed up her stellar record with an 11-4 finish to doubles play. The junior will combine with
Athena Li's 15-7 record in singles play and 12-5 record in the doubles to add depth and experience to the Tufts roster.
A Look at the Field:
The Jumbos first test of the weekend will be against the Nichols College Bison as they clash for just the third time ever. One of the previous meetings came earlier this spring as the Jumbos downed the Bison 7-0 in their season opener.
Nichols is led by Kamora Helton at the number one position in the singles. She played to a 9-10 record entirely from the top spot for the Bison. Her teammate Antonino Carrerra wrapped up her 2025 with a 13-5 record in singles play from mostly the number two position to make for a hefty one-two punch at the top of the Bison lineup. However, if you remove their top two records then the rest of the Bison lineup has a record of only 34-40 in singles play.
Nichols doubles number one duo of Helton and Pamela Gonzalez Vallardi enter the NCAA tournament with an 11-9 record. Their number two duo of Carrera and Johanna Schroeder wrapped up their 2025 with a 10-5 record.
The winner of the Tufts versus Nichols game will go on to play the No. 10 ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Engineers enter the NCAA Tournament with a 16-2 record including a 5-2 loss to Tufts back in March. They are led by Jay Lu and Fiona Lee with 21-4 and 18-4 records respectively. Jay Lu and Chloe Feng combine for a tough doubles pairing as shown by their 22-3 record.
On the other side of the bracket, The College of New Jersey will take on Hartwick College in the first round match preceding the Tufts versus Nichols contest. The 12-6 TCNJ Lions claimed the title in the NJAC Tournament following a 4-0 sweep of Stockton, and enter the tournament as winners of eight of their last nine games. They are led by Zoey Albert at the number one singles position with a 10-6 record. Aira Abalos saw great success from the number two position as she finished the season with a 13-4 record. Albert and Shari Manaan combined for an undefeated season in doubles play as they enter the tournament with a 17-0 record.
Hartwick holds a 14-3 record overall as they enter tournament play, but they have only played four games this spring. They claimed the title in the Empire 8 Tournament back in October 2024, but have run into a bit of bad luck with the weather as their spring schedule has been marred with postponements and cancellations. They are led by Alexandra Krasinska in the singles with a 12-2 record at the number one position. Samantha Lantzy plays among the middle position to great effect as she enters the tournament with a 14-3 singles record. Krasinska and Phoebe Olsen combined for a 10-1 record to lead Hartwick in doubles play.
The hosting Bowdoin College Polar Bears will await the winner of the TCNJ versus Hartwick as the No. 24 team in the country. The 15-5 Polar Bears are led by Jamilah Karah with a 13-3 record in singles play. Zoe Sun is hot on her heels with a 12-3 record in the singles play, including a 6-1 record within the NESCAC. Bowdoin's best doubles pairing of Sun and Bella Hartung enter the NCAA Tournament with an 11-2 record.
--JUMBOS--
