Over the weekend, the men’s and women’s tennis teams faced uphill battles in their respective competitions. The women’s team lost, 0-7, to the University of Delaware on Friday before turning things around with a 4-1 win against Bucknell. The men’s team fell in both competitions, going 0-7 against Drexel on Saturday and 0-4 against Delaware on Sunday.
Going into its third and fourth competitions of the winter and spring season, the women’s team has faced some major setbacks with injuries and illnesses of its best players, including sophomore Miriam Gondorova, sophomore Lauren Monti and senior Emma Brogan. All these losses and the transition to indoor courts with a faster ball speed have taken the team time to get used to, going 0-7 in its first three competitions against Penn State, Penn and Delaware.
“It’s been a tough start,” head coach Steve Reiniger said. “Delaware is a good school and I knew it would be a tough match. We needed to be 100% and everybody playing their best for us to have a chance and that didn’t happen. But they played well.”
Despite the loss, some bright spots on Friday came from sophomore Jenna Stevens and graduate student Sophia Edwards. The duo were the only two with three-set singles matches on the team.
The Wildcats carried these small wins and the momentum into Saturday against Bucknell, when they finally began to see some progress in doubles and singles, sweeping both categories. For doubles, the duo of junior Maggie Gehrig and freshman Olivia Corcoran in the second spot proved successful as they clinched a 6-4 win, while sophomore Maddie Hills and Stevens also earned the Wildcats a point, winning, 6-4, as well.
“I thought Maddie Hills played her best match in doubles,” Reiniger said. “She returned and served very well. I also thought Maggie Gehrig played her best match, so that was helpful. We needed the doubles points. That was big. I thought we were the stronger team.”
As for singles, the biggest standout for Villanova was Edwards who was tasked with facing off against the Bison’s toughest player, Whitney King. Though Edwards took King down in two sets, the first set finished at 7-5, and in the second set, King forced a tiebreaker that Edwards clinched, 7-6.
As a graduate transfer from Boston College, Edwards has moved into one of the top spots on Villanova’s roster as she becomes a leader on the team.
“[Edwards] is a great addition and a great teammate,” Reiniger said. “She definitely represents Villanova perfectly out on the court. She has great sportsmanship and is a pleasure to have on the team.”
For the men’s team, this weekend’s season opener was also faced with a struggle to earn points.
On Saturday, in the first competition against Drexel, the Wildcats were unable to get a hold on doubles or singles. When it came to doubles, the only team that came close to a win was junior Cooper Gordon and sophomore Kush Anand who forced a tiebreaker but fell, 7-6 (7-2).
In singles, Gordon continued to be one of Villanova’s only highlights of the day, as he narrowly lost to Dragon Alex De Sousa in the third set, going 6-0, 4-6 and 7-5 in his match. The only other Wildcat to make it to three sets in their singles match was senior Trey Fourticq who, after dropping the first set, 6-1, came back in the second 6-3 before forcing a tiebreaker in the third set, just losing, 10-7.
The same story occurred the next day against Delaware where the Wildcats were unable to top any of the Blue Hens in doubles or singles. In doubles, Gordon and Anand were unable to find the rhythm from the previous day, getting swept, 6-0, in the No. 1 spot while in the No. 3 spot sophomore Will Monahan and freshman Quincy Jones fell, 6-1. In singles, half of the games went unfinished as Delaware flew through Cooper, Monahan and sophomore Thomas Wakefield in the top three spots.
Next Sunday, Feb. 2, women’s tennis will head to Bethlehem, PA to face off against Lehigh at 10 a.m. As for the men’s team, they will have two weeks off before facing Brigham Young University on Friday, Feb. 7 in Bethlehem, PA at 10 a.m. and Navy on Feb. 8 in Annapolis, MD at 1 p.m.