Over the weekend, the Villanova’s women’s tennis team traveled to Annapolis, Md., to compete in Navy’s Blue and Gold Invitational against eight teams, including Georgetown, George Washington, Seton Hall, Towson, UNC-Wilmington and William & Mary.
In singles play, the Wildcats had mixed results, with some players getting eliminated in the first round and others making it all the way to the semifinals and finals. Sophomore Maggie Gehrig and junior Emma Brogan lost in the first round of 16, losing both matches within two sets. Graduate student Ami Grace Dougah and freshman Miriam Gondorova both made it past the first round into the quarterfinals, but conceded each of their matches in two sets.
Junior Chloe Floyd got a bye in the round of 16 to the quarterfinals, but lost the first match she played in the tournament against UNC Wilmington’s AP Shumate. Graduate student Amanda Rivera was one of the two Wildcats to make it to the semifinals, yet, like Floyd, Rivera was taken down by Shumate, 4-6 and 2-6.
The only Wildcat to make it to the finals was freshman Lauren Monti, but after winning three matches in a row, she was taken down by Navy’s Anna Jordaan, 6-4 and 6-2.
Despite some Wildcats being brought down early in the round of 16 in main play, they went far in consolation play. Junior Valieriia Kornieva was eliminated in the round of 16 in a ten-point tiebreaker by Georgetown’s Paige Gilbert, but fought back hard with a 10-point tiebreaker in the semifinals of the consolation rounds to make it to the finals. In the finals, Kornieva defeated William and Mary’s Francesca Davis in two sets, 6-4 and 6-1.
“[Kornieva’s] play was by far her best play of the fall, and maybe she is playing her best tennis, period,” head coach Steve Reiniger said. “As a junior, I have never seen her play quite as well as she has. She really put it together start to finish in a couple of her matches against good opponents. It was really good.”
Similar to Kornieva, freshman Maddie Hills lost in the first round by a ten-point tiebreaker but, in consolation, made it all the way to the finals where she lost to Navy’s Makaila Cheng, 1-6 and 5-7.
“All three freshmen played pretty well,” Reiniger said. “[Gondorova] played a strong opponent on Saturday in the semifinals of the main draw. She lost but she played really well. [Monti] lost in the main finals of the D Flight. She played pretty well. With the freshman in particular they have a few extra things to focus on than maybe the returners, so I think she tried to implement some new stuff into her singles and did a good job. Also, [Hills] played pretty well in both singles and doubles so I was pretty pleased with the young players. That’s probably the highlight of the tournaments, the young guns.”
Senior Bella Steffen made it to the consolation finals after losing in the quarterfinals of main play. Steffen won the match against Isabella Giraldo after a tense tiebreaker in set one, and an easier win in set two for a final score of (7)7-6(4) and 6-2.
For doubles play, the Wildcats had similar results. Steffens and Brogen lost their one-set match in the round of 16 and 3-6. Rivera and Dougah lost their first match just barely in a tiebreaker, (7)6-(8)7.
“[Dougah and Rivera], the two graduate students, had a tough first-round match and had a couple of match points where they didn’t convert,” Reiniger said. “I think for the most part [Dougah] is really strong both in singles and doubles so I usually do not have to worry too much about what she is doing out on the court. She handles herself kind of like a self-coach.”
Floyd and Monti lost their match early on as well by a score of 2-6. However, the pair of Kornieva and Gehrig made it past the first round, winning their tiebreaker (7)7-(4)6. However, the pair lost in the quarterfinals soon after against the Navy pair of Olivia Fermo and Cheng by a score of 1-6. The pair of Gondorova and Hills made it the furthest in doubles play, making it to the semifinals, yet lost to Navy’s Oliva Lee and Parvathi Shanker, 3-6.
“[Gondorova and Hills] played pretty well,” Reiniger said. “They came down in the first set and pulled it out. Usually, the toughest thing is when you are a freshman and you haven’t played a lot of doubles. They are definitely trending in the right direction. They are learning and playing smarter doubles so that is definitely good to see.”
The Wildcats will have next weekend off before traveling to Providence, Rhode Island, to compete in Brown University’s Invitation on Oct. 14 and 15. This will be the Wildcats’ last major competition in the fall season.
