On Saturday, Feb. 14, Villanova women’s tennis earned a 4-3 victory over Bucknell and suffered a 6-1 loss the next day against the United States Naval Academy (7-4) in Annapolis, Maryland, MD.
On Feb. 14, Villanova (4-5, 1-0 Big East) stole the doubles point. Seniors Emi Callahan and Maggie Gehrig took home a 6-3 win on court No. 1.
Juniors Lauren Monti and Jenna Stevens followed up with a 6-2 win on the second doubles court, securing the opening point.
In singles, the Wildcats won three matches to secure the result. On court No. 3, Junior Miriam Gondorova earned a 6-3, 6-1 win. Monti, with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 victory at No. 5, added another point, and finally Gehrig, on court No. 2, clinched the match. She played a 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 match, coming back from a deficit.
While the team won, head coach Steve Reiniger noted that the score was closer than anticipated. He was glad to have secured the doubles point, which the team was not able to do last weekend against Seton Hall or Lehigh.
“It was a little tighter than expected,” Reiniger said. “They persevered. We got the doubles point, which was obviously important. The courts were fast, so there was a little adjusting. But for the most part, we didn’t play our best, but we got the win.”
The victory in the doubles round against Bucknell was an improvement from last weekend. In the week leading up to the matches, the team tried new doubles pairings at courts No. 2 and No. 3.
“We tried different double combinations,” Reiniger said. “At No. 1, we’ve been playing really well. At two and three, we were struggling a little bit, so we tried different combinations, and they seem to be working.”
On Feb. 15, the team fell, 6-,1 to Navy. Freshman Alina Kornyeva won the team’s only point on the sixth court in the singles round.
“The Navy is very strong,” Reiniger said. “That’s a really good team, and I think they’re actually better than they were last year. I wasn’t disappointed. I thought the singles were very good. Alina Kornyeva, a freshman, was the only person to win her singles match at number six singles.”
Sophomore Olivia Corcoran lost her match against Navy on the first court. Reiniger noted that she battled an exhaustive three-set match and has been performing well so far this season.
“Our No. 1 player, Olivia Corcoran, has been playing well, just not getting the results,” Reiniger said. “I mean, at No. 1 it’s tough. Even [on Sunday], she had to play a tie-breaker for the third set. Her two sets took longer than Jenna Stevens’ three sets did. So she played a tie-breaker to decide the third set. Even though her win-loss record doesn’t look great, her performance has been really good, so I’m pleased with that.”
Villanova will host Colgate (1-4, 0-1 Patriot League) on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Villanova Tennis Complex at 6 p.m.
