It all comes down to this. In the season’s final match before the Big East Tournament, UConn will host Seton Hall for senior day at the Storrs, Conn. tennis courts on Friday, April 12th at 3 p.m. The seniors being honored before game time will be Nansi Toskova and Varsha Rathore.
Matchup
As the postseason approaches, both teams find themselves at different spots. Connecticut is currently sitting at a comfortable 11-7 overall record (3-3 Big East) while Seton Hall is just below .500 at 8-10 (1-5 Big East). Additionally, the Pirates are on a three-match skid, but the Huskies have won four of their last five.
Home court advantage will be big for UConn in this one, as they boast a 7-2 home record. That stacks up nicely to their opponent’s 3-4 away record. Both teams’ conference records show how tough the Big East is with neither being above .500 after six matches played.
Historically, these two squads have matched up 10 times, all of which have gone in favor of the Huskies. Their first matchup was in 2009 and ever since that first 5-2 win, Connecticut hasn’t looked back. Most recently, the two met in last year’s Big East Tournament in Cayce, SC, a match that saw the Huskies win 4-0 to advance.
Players to Watch
For UConn, junior Maria Constantinou has recently been crowned the Big East Singles Player of the Week for going 3-0 in the last three matches, with wins in matches against UMass, Georgetown, and Villanova. She’s been in the second singles position for the spring and leads the team with an 11-5 singles record. Her main doubles partner, junior Olivia Wright, has been playing in the first singles spot and is one win away from her 10th win in the spring. The two have been playing in the first doubles spot as well, securing wins in all three of those previously mentioned matches, making the duo 9-4 together.
For Seton Hall, graduate student Aina Plana Ventosa has been on an absolute tear throughout the spring. After going 1-3 in the fall, she kicked it up a couple of notches and is currently 12-1 entering this final match of the season. A four-time Big East all-academic team member, Plana Ventosa has been performing out of her mind out of the third singles position. Just behind her in singles wins is Imogen Brooker. The London native has 11 singles wins in the season, nine of them coming in the spring. After a rough 2-5 start to her collegiate tennis career, she’s bounced back nicely to 9-7 after the fall season.
Overall
The Huskies will be the favorites in this match, but as we’ve seen in previous contests: anything could happen. While the program could find themselves well ahead of Seton Hall statistically and in the standings, there’s always room for an upset in NCAA sports. Both teams are looking to go into the Big East Tournament on a high note, and depending on who’s playing who individually, we could be in for a close one.