Last weekend, Villanova women’s tennis traveled competed at the 27th Annual Cissie Leary Invitational, hosted by UPenn. Along with Villanova, Delaware, Drexel, Temple, Cornell, Saint Joe’s and UConn competed at the invite.
Reflecting last week’s struggles with injuries, only nine players on Villanova’s roster of 12 played throughout the tournament, with two appearing sparingly on the court.
Senior Emma Brogan and sophomore Jenna Stevens are expected to return next weekend at Lehigh.
Meanwhile, graduate Sophia Edwards is still recovering from a knee injury that forced her to redshirt last season, and is slowly working her way into the rotation.
Despite these setbacks, every injured member was able to make the trip to UPenn to support their teammates.
The match was considered to be “Hidden Duel,” and formatted differently than last weekend’s Navy Invitational. Instead of competing in flights, teams faced one another separately and had all their players play one another in singles, doubles or both.
This was the favored format for the coaches, as it allowed for more competition in a shorter amount of time.
On day one of the invitational, Villanova faced Temple in both singles and doubles.
Once again, freshman Olivia Corcoran stood out, defeating her Temple opponent, 6-4, 2-6, 10-6. She fell short in her doubles match against the Owls, where she and Valieriia Kornieva were defeated, 8-6. Corcoran has only lost one singles match this fall so far.
Villanova ultimately lost all four doubles matches to Temple.
The Wildcats claimed four victories over Temple. Along with Corcoran, graduate Florida State transfer Sophia Edwards won, 6-0, 6-1. Sophomore Maddie Hills won, 6-4, 6-4, and senior Valieriia Kornieva won in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 10-6.
For the remaining singles matches against Temple, junior Savie Seebald was defeated, 6-4, 6-2, and sophomore Lauren Monti lost, 6-2, 6-0.
Day two proved to be a success against Philadelphia City Six rival Saint Joe’s, as the Wildcats claimed five doubles victories.
Head coach Steve Reiniger was optimistic about the team’s doubles performance following the weekend.
“Everyone is really improving at the net, and their position is looking much better,” Reiniger said.
Reiniger attributes much of this improvement to the impact of Edwards, a new transfer player from Boston College. So far, Edwards has proved to be the team’s strongest doubles player. Reiniger described Edwards as “a perfect example for everyone on how to play and compete.”
Junior Maggie Gehrig and Monti achieved a convincing doubles win against St. Joe’s, defeating the Hawks, 8-0.
Corcoran and Hills won, 8-4. Valieriia Kornieva and Lauren Monti also secured a win, 8-7 (3). Olivia Corcoran obtained yet another victory against St.Joes alongside Chloe Floyd, 8-5.
Edwards and senior Chloe Floyd fell short, 8-5, as the Wildcats’ only doubles loss to St.Joes.
Villanova concluded the weekend against Delaware.
Gehrig and Corcoran were the only doubles pair to secure a win, as Floyd and Savie Seebald fell short, 8-2, and sophomore Miriam Gondorova and Monti were defeated, 8-7 (2).
Reiniger had high praises for Gehrig, saying she “played the best doubles match of her life” alongside fellow North Carolina native Cocoran this past weekend.
Corcoran finished her weekend exceptionally well, with a win against Delaware in two sets (6-3, 6-2). Kornieva also secured a victory, 6-3, 6-2. Seebald was defeated, 6-0, 6-1. Chloe Floyd lost, 6-0, 6-0. Gehrig fell, 6-2, 7-5. Monti lost, 7-5, 6-2.
Overall, Reiniger was excited about the Wildcat’s performance this weekend.
“My number one priority is to make us better in doubles,” Reiniger said. “Last year, I don’t think we did as well, but I thought we competed extremely well in singles and doubles this weekend.”
Villanova’s next match will be at Lehigh, Saturday Oct. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 20.
