Men’s basketball and lacrosse are not the only teams at UMBC with NCAA Tournament aspirations. Just ask David Jackson.
Jackson, a senior from Eldersburg and a former Liberty High standout, is expected to be a key contributor for UMBC this weekend as the Retrievers try to repeat as America East men’s tennis champions. A victory in the tournament, set for Friday-Sunday in New Haven, Conn, would guarantee the program a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time since 2000.
UMBC is the defending conference champions and the second seed this year in the five-team tournament. The Retrievers face third-seeded Stony Brook in its first match on Saturday. UMBC (14-4) enters the postseason having won seven straight matches, which includes the program’s first win ever against state rival Navy.
Jackson is 14-4 as UMBC’s No. 4 singles and 14-4 as part of the team’s top doubles team with senior Irfan Shamasdin. Jackson was also the America East’s Most Outstanding Player in last year’s tournament.
“Having that experience last year helped, but this is a new season and we knew that being the defending champion would make it even tougher,” Jackson said.
On the women’s side, UMBC is also the second seed, as it will play the winner of Friday’s match between Binghamton and Hartford on Saturday. The Retriever women are 13-3 and closed out the season on a 12-match winning streak. They are looking to make it to the NCAAs for the first time since 2003, when they were in the Northeast Conference.
The women’s team is led by senior Pascaline Cette who is 12-2 as the No. 3 singlesand 7-5 with sophomore Alice Chen as the Retrievers top doubles team.
” All of those things we accomplished are in the past and this is a whole new season,” UMBC coach Keith Puryear said. “We start again in the postseason and we can’t rest on the things we did earlier. In the postseason, it’s not the team that plays their best that wins, it’s the team that plays the best that goes all the way.”
