After a very solid showing at the West Point Invite, the Huskies will travel to Cambridge, Massachusetts for the ITA Division I Regional Championship. Starting on Thursday, Oct. 5 and concluding Sunday, Oct. 8, this tournament will be the biggest one of the season so far for UConn; they’ll face their toughest competition yet.
Matchups
This tournament will be similar to the West Point Invite, as a bracket of 128 singles players and 64 doubles teams will be competing to be the last one standing. Last year, not a single Husky made it past the round of 32 (second round) of the singles bracket, so there’s some room for improvement there. However, they fared a little better in doubles, sending one pair to the round of 16 (third round). While the matchups won’t be released until the weekend, this will be by far the toughest test for this squad yet. The West Point Invite from two weekends ago previously held that spot, and the players rose to the occasion and must do so once again.
UConn Players to Watch
Going off recent form, the key singles players for UConn are juniors Olivia Wright and Maria Constantinou. Both had been undefeated in singles play prior to the West Point Invite. That being said, both reached the finals in their respective doubles brackets in that invite as Wright won with her partner, freshman Victoria Matos. While both juniors played better in doubles than singles, look for them to bounce back and continue to show improvement.
Junior Isabel Petri Bere made the biggest impact in singles play two weeks ago, reaching the finals in her bracket before ultimately being defeated. That electric run of play has the potential to carry over into this weekend’s matches. Petri Bere, along with her partner Wright, ended up making it the farthest in last year’s ITA Regionals, reaching the round of 16 in doubles play. Everything is shaping up for her to be a big contributor, so keep an eye out for Petri Bere in this one.
A name that hasn’t been mentioned too much recently is Matos. After starting off the first week undefeated in singles play (in convincing fashion), the freshman had a very respectable UConn Invite in week two. Matos went 2-1 in singles play and 2-1 in doubles play, demonstrating how she may not have the most experience but can still hold her own against older and tougher competition. After winning the Flight A Doubles Championship with Wright, Matos will be looking to add another championship to her collection.
What to Expect
No singles players made much noise in the bracket last year, but this situation is eerily similar to the West Point Invite. At last year’s invite, UConn was only able to advance one singles player past round two, while there were zero at the ITA Regionals. Just like last year’s West Point Invite, they advanced one doubles team to the third round of play. The reason for comparing these two tournaments is because in this year’s West Point Invite, UConn had a significantly better showing with mostly the same roster. They sent four singles players to the quarterfinals and beyond, and both doubles teams made it to the finals with the pairing of Wright and Matos pulling off the victory. If this improvement is no fluke, there should be big things to expect for this weekend.