The University of Connecticut tennis team had a nice bounce-back weekend recently, grabbing two much-needed wins at home against Stony Brook University and Drexel University on Friday and Sunday, respectively, after getting thumped by Army in West Point the previous weekend. They were ready to go right out of the gate, and used that momentum on their way to losing just one set over both their meets.
The first victory of the weekend was against the Stony Brook Seawolves on Friday, who came into the meet with a 2-1 record, ready to do some damage. Their time wouldn’t come, however, as the Huskies steamrolled them in the meet, 6-1. The Seawolves won a single match of the seven played, as Kristi Boro took one from UConn in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. Beyond that, Connecticut did not drop another set, always having control over the flow of their games and sets. On the doubles side, Olivia Wright and Maria Constantinou dominated as usual, winning their set 6-2, and the squad of Isabel Petri Bere and Aleksandra Karamyshev won theirs 6-4. Singles was much of the same, as the four ladies in doubles all won their sets in convincing fashion, as did Cameron Didion, who may have had the most dominant scores of the day (6-2 and 6-1). Despite coming in off a tough loss, the team gathered themselves and played very well at home and were always in the driver’s seat with their pace and their shots.
Their Sunday matinee match against the Drexel Dragons, who had seen more playing time thus far this season, holding a 4-3 record, but even that couldn’t stop the force that was the Huskies. UConn cruised, sweeping the Drexel meet 4-0, thanks to a few decisive wins. The Huskies won the doubles-3 and singles-6 matches by default, as the Dragons didn’t have enough players on that day. From there, it was a race to see which matches finished first. Karamyshev and Bere won their doubles set, 6-4, giving UConn the doubles point. Karamyshev continued her success by defeating her singles opponent 6-2 and 6-2, and Constantinou sealed the win for the Huskies with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph in singles-3. The Huskies quickly disposed of their opponents and got to enjoy the rest of their Sunday, victory in hand.
Such a dominant showing for the Huskies after a crushing loss last week shows a good trend for this team: they can get themselves back up and continue fighting regardless of the circumstances. That bodes well for the potential tournament run that will come in a few months’ time. If they can keep up with this level of play, they could see their nationwide recognition increase and, perhaps, they could even get ranked.