It was a big week for Villanova’s women’s tennis team, with four matches. On Tuesday, April 11th, the ‘Cats took on Rider University, resulting in a 4-0 win. Following that match, on Thursday, the team played against St. Joseph’s University, winning, 5-2. The team lost on April 15th in a 1-6 match against Georgetown, but finished the week and the regular season with a 4-0 win against Lafayette. 

The week started off with a clean sweep for the women’s doubles against Rider. Emi Callahan and Maggie Gehrig won their match against Agnese Ceccarelli and Daniela Naves, 6-4, and Emma Brogan and Bella Steffen won their match, 6-5, against Samantha Killin and Leila Koster. To finish off doubles, Valieriia Kornieva and Amanda Rivera-González defeated Avery Oppenheim and Raquel Bolin, 6-3. Singles was another clean sweep for the ‘Cats, with Gehrig winning against Naves, 6-2 and 6-2, Kornieva defeating Oppenheim, 6-1 and 6-1 and Steffen winning, 6-1 and 6-2, against Killin. Brogan’s, Callahan’s and Caitlin Fisher’s matches all went unfinished.

The match against Saint Joseph’s also ended in a win for the ‘Cats. In doubles, Callahan and Gehrig took the win, going 7-6 against Stow Weiss and Anna Kirk. Brogan and Steffen lost their doubles match, 5-7, but Kornieva and Rivera-González bounced back with a 6-2 win to grab the doubles point. Singles went extremely well for the ‘Cats, with Gehrig taking her win against Weiss in a tight match, 7-6, 6-7 and 14-12. Callahan lost her singles match against Charlotte Kordonowy, 6-7 and 4-6. Kornieva won her match, 6-3 and 6-4, Steffen won, 7-6, Fisher won, 6-3 and 6-2 and Rivera-González lost her match, 6-4 and RET. 

“It was a great match for the girls,” head coach Steve Reiniger said. 

Georgetown was a tough match for Villanova. Callahan and Gehrig’s doubles match went unfinished, Brogan and Steffen lost their match, 3-6, against Paige Gilbert and Ashley Kennedy, Kornieva and Rivera-González lost their match, 2-6, against Olivia Ashton and Morgan Coburn.

“The game [was] moved inside to a very fast paced court,” Reiniger said. “We got outplayed by Georgetown, they are a great team.”

Singles was just as tough, with many losses. Brogan lost, 6-7 and 2-6, against Avantika Willy. Gehrig lost, 1-6 and 3-6, against Agata Mikos. Callahan lost, 4-6, 6-2 and 0-1, against Chloe Bendetti. Kornieva lost, 7-5, 4-6 and 0-1 to Kennedy. Steffen lost, 2-6 and 4-6, to Gilbert. However, Fisher ended this match with a singles win for the ‘Cats, beating Morgan Coburn, 3-4, and RET.

“We would have liked to have beat Georgetown,” Reiniger said. “They have a great program and we really all need to be playing our best in order to beat a team like that.” 

The ‘Cats ended their regular season with a win over Lafayette, enabling them to celebrate a win on Senior Day. Callahan and Gehrig took the win, 6-1, in doubles against Alyssa Perdomo and Eleanor Campbelle. Fisher and Rivera-González won their match, 6-0, against Melanie Sparhawk and Halle DeNardo. Taylor Gould and Chloe Floyd’s match against Carmen Merkel and Emma Menkowitz went unfinished. In singles, Brogan and Gehrig’s matches also went unfinished. Kornieva won her match, 3-6, 6-0 and 6-2, against Olivia Boeckman. Steffen’s match against Sparhawk was also unfinished. Fisher won her match, 7-6 and 6-3, against Campbell, and Gould won her match against DeNardo, 7-5 and 7-6. 

The team is getting ready to head down to Cayce, South Carolina for the Big East Tournament, which begins on April 20th.

“Our Big East record isn’t great,” Reiniger said. “But hopefully we win our first match and more after that. The girls and I are excited and I have faith that they will do the best they can.”