Women’s tennis won its first-round Big East Tournament match against Seton Hall before losing to DePaul, ending its season.
On Thursday, April 18, the women played in their first round game against Seton Hall in Cayce, South Carolina. Villanova was seeded seventh out of 11 teams entering the tournament, while Seton Hall was seeded 10th.
The Wildcats opened up doubles with two wins, securing the doubles point. Senior Isabella Steffen and freshman Jenna Stevens beat Seton Hall’s Emily O’Donovan and Aili Hietala, 6-2, with freshman Miriam Gondorova and graduate student Ami Grace Dougah following with another 6-2 victory to secure the doubles point.
Singles would resume with a Seton Hall rally, as Dougah would fall in the one spot to Seton Hall’s Anastasia Sereda in the third set and sophomore Maddie Gehrig falling to Imogen Brooker in the two spot. Gondorova lost in two sets, giving Seton Hall a 3-0 singles lead.
Stevens stopped all momentum for the Pirates with a straight set win in the fourth spot, and freshman Lauren Monti would maintain the momentum with a two set win over Seton Hall’s Hietala. The match would come down to a match between junior Valieriia Kornieva and Seton Hall’s Arabella Moen. Kornieva rallied back from a first set loss to win the match and clinch the win for Villanova.
With a win secured, the women’s team was slated to play No. 2 DePaul at 12:45 p.m. on Friday, April 19. The Wildcats lost, 4-1.
DePaul started the match with a sweep for the doubles point, as DePaul’s Greta Carbone and Hannah Smith swept ‘Nova’s Dougah and Gondorova, 6-0. The second match between DePaul’s Emily Casati and Yuliya Kizelbasheva against Villanova’s Emi Callahan and Gehrig would end the same as the first match, a 6-0 sweep.
In singles, Dougah would again open in the top spot and win the match, winning with two identical 6-2 sets. She was followed by DePaul’s Eleanor Nobbs beating Gehrig, and the following third singles match between Carbone and Gondorova being abandoned.
DePaul’s Kizelbasheva then beat Stevens in two sets, with the fifth singles match between Casati and Monti being abandoned, as well. The final match between DePaul’s Eva Goncharov and Villlanova’s Kornieva resulted in a two set win for Goncharov, allowing DePaul to secure the 4-1 win.
All singles games are played at the same time, and the games which were “abandoned” were done so because other singles matches finished earlier and the final outcome would be unchanged regardless of the results of the abandoned matches.
On Friday, April 19, the men’s tennis team would open its own Big East tournament with a match against DePaul. Villanova was seeded seventh out of eight teams and DePaul was seeded second. DePaul would win the match, 4-0.
In doubles, the first doubles match was played between DePaul’s Verma and Gitschel against Villanova’s freshman duo of Monahan and Frattarelli, which was abandoned after a tied set. The second and third matches would both result in a 6-2 win for DePaul, allowing them to claim the doubles point.
In singles, DePaul would win four matches and secure the win over Villanova. The first match between DePaul’s Vito Tonejc and Villanova senior Josh Robinson would be abandoned after two sets, and the second match between DePaul’s Shoyura Verma and Villanova freshman Will Monahan was won by Verma after two sets.
The third match between DePaul’s Matteo Iaquinto and Villanova senior Eitan Khromchenko would be abandoned, and the fourth between DePaul’s Pablo Torres-Almeida and Villanova’s freshman Thomas Wakefield would result in a two-set sweep for DePaul.
The fifth match between DePaul’s Laurentiu Mandocescu and Villanova senior Ryan Nguyen would be abandoned. DePaul’s Sven Moser won over Villanova freshman Justin Frattarelli in a two set-sweep in the sixth match.
The loss of both matches to DePaul has concluded the spring season for both the men’s and women’s teams. Both teams look forward to the resumption of tennis in the fall.
