After being out of action for almost two weeks, the UConn women’s tennis team came back to play in style. They hosted the Providence Friars on Friday and got a much-needed conference booster, doing so in a dominant fashion. The Huskies came into this one after splitting their most recent two games, losing to Mercer and beating Valdosta State on their road trip to Georgia last week. Providence had lost their last two against IUPUI and Emporia State, not trending in the right direction.
Results
Doubles:
Things started close in the first matchup of the day. The pairing of juniors Olivia Wright and Maria Constantinou went up against graduate students Liria Loria and Vannelie Melendez. Providence jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but UConn remained composed and tied it up. It continued back and forth as the Huskies found themselves up 5-3, needing just one more win to secure the first doubles victory. The Friars fought back, though, and knotted it up at five a-piece. Needing to win by two, Constantinou and Wright won the next pair to make it 7-5 and 1-0 overall for UConn.
The last two doubles matches weren’t as close as the first and finished with convincing 6-1 and 6-3 scores in favor of CT. For the 6-1 win, junior Isabel Peri Bere and freshman Caroline Hinshaw were paired up and got the better of juniors Elisa Davalos and Lauren Carson. In the 6-3 win, senior Nansi Toskova and freshman Victoria Matos outlasted freshmen Camila Barrera Aguirre and Erika Beltran Beckley.
Singles:
After securing the doubles point, UConn kept their foot on the gas when it came to singles play. All games ended in straight sets in favor of the Huskies. Wright kicked things off by defeating Barrera Aguirre by a score of 6-3, 6-3. That makes it 17 singles wins on the year for Wright. In the second singles spot, Constantinou secured her 17th singles win as well, defeating sophomore Mae Abreu 6-4, 7-5. Petri Bere got the better of Carson 6-1, 6-1 to secure her 19th singles win of the season, and right behind her is Hinshaw, who defeated Melendez 6-1, 6-3 for her 18th singles triumph. In the penultimate match, sophomore Cameron Didion outlasted Liria by a score of 6-4, 6-0, to secure her 12th singles victory. Freshman Isabella Asinov wrapped things up for Connecticut, defeating Davalos in a close match that finished 6-4, 7-5.
What’s Next
UConn now moves to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in Big East play. Up next, the Huskies will welcome UMass to the Storrs tennis courts on Discovery Drive in two weeks. The match will be on Wednesday, April 3 at 2:30 p.m.