After a split last weekend with a win against Butler and a loss against DePaul, the UConn women’s tennis team hopes to add another victory to their record as they face the Sacred Heart Pioneers at home on Thursday, Feb. 29.
The Pioneers have had a scorching start to their season and are currently on a six-match winning streak. Four of those were shutout wins versus Wagner, Merrimack, Stony Brook and Rider. Their record going into this matchup is 8-1.
Currently, the Huskies have a 6-4 record and are 1-2 in Big East conference play. For Husky fans, the athletes to follow in this match are junior Olivia Wright and sophomore Cameron Didion. Wright continued her consistency in singles play last weekend and goes into this weekend with a 6-4 record. Didion led the Huskies to a nail-biter win against Butler last weekend, notching the final singles point.
On the Pioneers, Husky fans should look out for Katsiaryna Starastsenka. Starastsenka and her doubles partner, Kim Fenton, are currently undefeated in their first six matches in first doubles. Starastsenka also has an undefeated record so far in first singles.
The last time these two Connecticut schools faced each other was on March 29, 2023 where Sacred Heart took the win, 5-2. In this matchup, Marie Constantinou went 2-0 in both her singles and doubles matches. She and doubles partner Caroline Cook clinched the point for the Huskies with a 6-4 win.
Overall, though, UConn leads the overall record against the Pioneers, as they are 3-2 all-time. The first time the squads played each other was in 2009, when the Huskies got the shutout, 5-0.
Should the Huskies win this match and crush Sacred Heart’s winning streak, it will be a huge confidence booster as they’ve had a few tough weekends as of late. In order to do this, the team will need to bring consistency in the doubles play they proved capable of versus DePaul and the singles play they demonstrated against Butler. If they combine both of those abilities shown in past matchups and take down the persistent doubles pairing of Starastsenka and Fenton, they will be able to take down this team and take the all-time record to 4-2.
For this match, the first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Magic Lincer Tennis Academy in Manchester, Connecticut. If Husky fans wish to follow it, they can do so through iOnCourt Live Scoring.