The women’s tennis team is hosting their fall season opener this weekend on the west campus tennis courts. Matches begin at 1 p.m. on Friday and go through until Sunday, so there is plenty of time to catch the ‘Cats in action.

In addition to cheering on the Wildcats as they take on Longwood, Marist, Drexel, St. Joe’s and Delaware, spectators can also support the team through the purchase of homemade food, including pasta, cookies and fall beverages, available during matches on Saturday. Proceeds will be used to help fund travel costs for the tournaments over spring break.

“Everyone should come because it’s conveniently located on campus, a nice study break from midterms and, for all the athletes out there, you can get a nice #athletes4athletes pic,” sophomore Aphrah Brokaw said.

For those who are intimidated by attending a tennis match due to lack of knowledge of the sport, Brokaw says fans shouldn’t be concerned about being too loud when they cheer.

“Cheer as loud and obnoxiously as you want after the point ends,” Brokaw said. “We love when people cheer, but not during points because it’s disrespectful towards the other team.”

The Wildcats are hoping for a solid turnout of fans this weekend and even advertised the invitational with an event on Facebook.

“We love when people come out and support us – it makes us feel like we are more a part of the Villanova community,” Brokaw said. “Unitas.” 

The Wildcats expect this weekend to be a time for experimenting with different doubles combinations and figuring out where players fit best in the line-up.

“Our overall goal is to have girls in the finals of each flight, and hopefully win a significant amount of the flights,” Brokaw said. “The greater goal is to prepare for our spring season.”

As much as Brokaw likes traveling across the country for tennis matches, it is hard to beat playing for friends and family who are able to make the home match on Villanova’s own campus.

“Traveling is fun because we get to see different schools and new towns that we would never have the opportunity to go to without tennis, but being home is always great because our friends get to come out and watch,” Brokaw said. “Not to mention the home court advantage.”