That weekend, to say the least, went poorly. Coming off a big winning streak, the University of Connecticut women’s tennis team managed to only take one set in the two meets they had on Saturday and Sunday combined. First, they got swept by Army during their Senior Night, then they took only one set from St. John’s University, ending that meet 1-6. Thankfully for the Huskies, they should be able to take this in stride and pick up where they left off before 12 p.m. on Saturday.
The first meet of the weekend was a mess. The Huskies got completely overmatched at home, never even taking a set from Army. Only their No. 1 singles, senior Julieanne Bou, managed to take her opponent to the tiebreak but got overpowered in the clutch, losing 7-0. The rest of the singles team stood no chance, only coming within striking distance of their opponent during the No. 4 singles match, but, even then, it didn’t feel close. Worse yet were the doubles teams: they only took one game when juniors Caroline Cook and Denise Lai stole it from under their oppositions’ noses. Army never took their foot off the gas, grounding UConn after a long streak of dominance.
“We came up against a very tough Army team today,” said Director of Tennis Glenn Marshall in an interview after the meet. “We just couldn’t get over the hump in a few of the close sets. They are a very physical team and they won a lot of the hustle points today which made a big difference.”
That wouldn’t be the last beating the Huskies took during the weekend; once again, at home, they only took one match. Sophomore Leonie Hoppe eked out a win in three sets at No. 2 singles, giving herself her fifteenth-singles win on the year. The rest of the team, though, couldn’t manage another win, unfortunately, so the Huskies lost their second meet of the weekend in rather unimpressive fashion.
In a post-meet interview on Sunday, Marshall said, “We came up against a tough team today in St. John’s. Our kids battled in singles and had many close matches, highlighted by a great three set win by Leonie… We need to learn how to break through with confidence and toughness in the close sets and matches. That was the difference today.”
Though it was a disappointing weekend, the Huskies look to take what they’ve learned this weekend and turn it into fuel for their next matchup, which is against Bryant on Wednesday at 1:45 p.m.
