On Saturday, Sept. 9 the Villanova women’s tennis team traveled to St. Joseph’s University to participate in the season’s first invitational. Due to thunderstorms in the Philadelphia area over the weekend, the team only got to play about six matches in total.

“We only played a match and a half,” head coach Steve Reiniger said. “Two doubles matches, four individual matches, and the rest got canceled. But it was fun. They did well. I was very encouraged by what I saw.”

The first doubles match paired graduate Amanda Rivera with freshman Lauren Monti. Despite being down early on in the match the pair were able to rally. In the end, they beat the Hawks team in a tiebreak.

“In college tennis doubles are supposed to be one set and then singles is two out of three sets” explained Reiniger. “But in the fall the tour- naments changed the format so we were playing an eight-game pro-set of doubles. In our doubles score, Amanda and Lauren were down 2-7 and came back in a tie-breaker. We would have lost that in a regular match with first to six by two but because we were playing to eight it was good and they just got better as the match progressed.”

The second doubles match went much quicker for junior Chloe Floyd and freshman Maddie Hills. In the end, there were only a total of ten games in the set as the Wildcats won 8 games to 2.

For singles play, the teams played in the regular six-game pro-set but, if necessary, they played a tiebreaker for a third set as a shortened format. In singles play, the Hawks defeated two out of four Wildcats with the only winners being Rivera-Gonzalez and Hills. In her match, Monti tried hard to come back after losing the first set and outlasted the Hawks’ Victoria Tracy in the second set 7-5. Yet, Tracy got the edge and finished strong winning 10-4.

Hills played a quick match against the Hawks’ Sophia Amato, winning the first two sets and only conceding three games in total. However, Rivera-Gonzalez’s match was much tougher as she won each set narrowly by two games, with scores of 6-4 and 7-5. Floyd faced a tough competitor in St. Joseph’s Ireland Amato, and conceded the match quickly in two sets with only a total of four games won.

Although the invitational did not last long, Reiniger was happy with the level of play from everyone, especially the freshman.

“I was very impressed,” said Reiniger. “So far it is pretty early for us with our main season being in the spring but so far they have all fit in great. They have great attitudes and they all get along really well which makes my life a lot more enjoyable to have players that get along, no drama.”

Reiniger is confident in the older players’ ability to help with shaping the lineup, especially with the new edition of graduate student Ami Grace Dougah. Arriving this year from UNC-Asheville, Dougah’s list of achievements includes the 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee, Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete, Big South Conference Player of the Year and All-Big South first-team singles and doubles.

“We have a graduate student who should really help out the team at the top of the lineup,” said Reiniger. “On paper, she is our best player. I anticipate her playing the number one position.”

As for the rest of the team, Reiniger believes that they are already competing at a very high level early on in the season.

“They have been competing well,”Reiniger said. “We did a little single tournament and all the matches were close. It was interesting. They competed well at the St. Joe’s tournament. They’ve been competing well in practice. With sports that’s the main thing. They’re representing the school well. They are not making excuses, they’re playing pretty smart. It’s encouraging. I feel like the freshmen in this team are pretty mature for being pretty young.”

Despite only four players being able to compete at the St. Joseph’s invitational, this weekend the Wildcats will hold their own invitational where the whole roster is anticipated to play.

“This will be a tournament where all the players will play,” explained Reiniger. “The format is very relaxed so we will be playing a lot of individual stuff. I want to see us playing two up so two players up at the net in doubles not staying in the one up one back position. In singles, I just want to see us continue to compete.”

The Villanova Invitational will be hosted Sept. 15 through Sept. 17 at the Villanova Tennis Complex on West Campus.