UConn women’s tennis will look to start their season off on the right foot at the Quinnipiac Invite in Storrs. The invite begins Friday, Sept. 9 and concludes Sunday, Sept. 10 at the outdoor tennis courts on campus.
Matchups
UConn will be welcoming Quinnipiac University, Fairfield University and Army for the invite. Historically, UConn has performed well against two of those three schools, winning 12 of its 14 total matches against Quinnipiac. The Huskies will try and continue a win streak that has been ongoing since October 2013 against the Bobcats. Quinnipiac is returning their sole All-MAAC First Team selection, sophomore Vera Sekerina, as well as reigning MAAC Coach of the Year, Paula Miller. With these key returners, UConn might find it more difficult to get past the Bobcats than their previous matchups.
UConn has gone undefeated in the eight matchups it has played against Fairfield University starting in the 2009-2010 season. All-MAAC First Team doubles selections, senior Francesca Karman, and sophomore Sarah Liu, will be returning for the Stags. Notably, Liu was one of only five unanimous selections. Like Quinnipiac, Fairfield will likely be a tougher test with their returning stars than they have in years past.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for UConn against Army like it has been with the previous two teams. The Black Knights boast a 9-3 total record against UConn, and the last time Army came to visit it resulted in a 7-0 loss for the Huskies two seasons ago. The teams have only played once since then in a match where UConn traveled to West Point, New York. The result was once again 7-0 in Army’s favor. The Knights bring back juniors Cooper Jackson and Paige Herremans, the duo named as the All-Patriot League Doubles Team of the Year for last season. Jackson was also Army’s only All-Patriot League First Team selection. The Huskies will have their work cut out for them if they want to get their first win against Army since the 2017-2018 season.
UConn Players to Watch
All eyes will be on junior Maria Constantinou and sophomore Cameron Didion for this one. Constantinou and Didion were the only Huskies to reach 20 singles wins in the spring, with 21 and 20, respectively. Constantinou also flourished in doubles matches with a 20-9 overall record, including a perfect 8-0 record with senior Aleksandra Karamyshev. Constantinou was also the only Husky to be selected to the All-Big East First Team last year, which she did unanimously. She’ll look to continue that effort into the fall season. Didion will look to build off her stellar first year campaign which ended on a four-game win streak. Didion displayed the talent and opportunity last year and in the spring to show she can be one of the best young tennis players in the Big East, as well as the entire NCAA.
In addition to the returning faces on the roster, the Huskies added three new first-year students this fall: Isabella Asenov, Caroline Hinshaw and Victoria Matos. All three could make an instant impact in their first collegiate tennis action.
What to Expect
In last year’s Quinnipiac Invite, UConn had a dominant showing. They finished the tournament with a 23-6 total record in both singles and doubles matches, four of those six losses coming at the hands of Army. The Huskies should feel confident in a repeat performance thanks to some big names returning and some promising new ones set to make their debuts.
UConn is set to play Fairfield on Friday, Sept. 8 and Army on Saturday, Sept.9 at 11 a.m. in Storrs,
Quinnipiac on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. at Manchester Country Club.
