The UConn Women’s Tennis team traveled to Elon, N.C. this past weekend for the Jimmy Powell Invitational hosted by Elon University. They squared off against Coastal Carolina, Elon and UNC Asheville over the course of the two-day event. While they started out slow, the Huskies were able to improve with each match and end on a high note.
Day 1:
vs. Coastal Carolina
The Huskies started things off against a tough Coastal Carolina team. Out of 11 singles matches, eight wins went the Chanticleers’ way. The three victors from UConn were freshman Caroline Hinshaw, sophomore Cameron Didion and freshman Isabela Asenov. All three won in straight sets, showing some promise for the Huskies moving forward.
Doubles play was more of the same, as out of four matches, UConn only managed one win. That win came at the courtesy of the parking of Didion and senior Aleksandra Karamyshev, who defeated redshirt senior Katya Hersh and senior Isabella Weatherhead 6-3.
vs. Elon (Singles)
For the last matches of day one, UConn played against the hosts and didn’t fare any better than the previous matches. The schools faced off in seven singles matches, which finished 6-1 in Elon’s favor. The lone win for the Huskies came thanks to Hinshaw, who continues to get big wins in tough spots. She outlasted fellow freshman Ella Suk in three sets, narrowly winning the tiebreaker set 15-13.
Day 2:
vs. Elon (Doubles)
Resuming their matchup against the Phoenix, UConn and Elon played four doubles matches. Connecticut showed some improvement here, splitting the matches two apiece. Junior Olivia Wright and freshman Victoria Matos just edged out a win against the star pairing of seniors Sibel Tanik and Lizette Reding by a score of 6-4. The other win for UConn came from Hinshaw and junior Isabel Petri Bere, who were victorious against freshman Simone Bergeron and sophomore Helen Sarikulaya 6-3.
vs. UNC Asheville
In singles play against the Bulldogs, UConn had their highest win total of the invite. The Huskies finished with a 3-4 record, headlined by wins from Wright, Karamysev and Petri Bere. Wright won convincingly in straight sets against senior Linge Steenkamp and Petri Bere won in straight sets against freshman Louise Booker. Karamyshev’s match made it to a tiebreaker set, which she handled expertly, winning the final set 10-5.
In doubles, UConn once again went 50% with victories from the Wright/Matos pairing and the pairing of senior Nansi Toskova and Asenov. Wright and Matos won 6-4 in a tightly contested match against Steenkamp and junior Ari Siegel, while Toskova and Asenov didn’t lose a game, winning their match 6-0 against freshman Alexis Nyborg and Booker. With their victory, Wright and Matos would be the doubles co-champions along with junior Anna Babayan and senior Jesse Hollins of Coastal Carolina.
Overall
While the invite as a whole didn’t go as well as the Huskies would’ve hoped, there was clear improvement shown from day one to day two. They went 7-18 in singles and 5-8 in doubles, leaving them with a total record of 12-26. For playing in this invite for the first time and facing off against some seriously tough competition, UConn can’t be too disappointed in their performance. They ended the season off with Wright and Matos’ doubles championship and can go into their break with their heads held high.
UConn will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 27 when they play Merrimack in Manchester, Conn.
