The time has finally come for postseason tennis. The UConn women’s tennis team was the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament in Cayce, SC this past weekend after finishing with an overall 13-7 record (4-3 Big East). Their first match was against the No. 5 seed, Creighton, and after a resounding victory, they got to face the No. 1 seed, Xavier, in the following round.
Vs. Creighton
Juniors Olivia Wright and Maria Constantinou kicked things off with a big 6-1 win in the first doubles match against senior Malvika Shukla and junior Valerie Negin. In the second doubles match, with the lone doubles point on the line, UConn secured it thanks to junior Isabel Petri Bere and freshman Caroline Hinshaw. The Huskies got the better of senior Bianca Rademacher and junior Siri Kongara with another one-sided scoreline (6-3).
After jumping out to that 1-0 lead, UConn didn’t look back. Wright went to work again, this time in the first singles position, and defeated Shulka 7-6, 6-3. Constantinou was up next and won a closely contested match versus Negin in a three-set thriller (4-6, 6-2, 6-1). Up 3-0, they just needed to win one more match to secure the victory, and sophomore Cameron Didion stepped up and made it happen. She got the 6-2, 6-0 straight set victory over sophomore Ana Paula Martinez. That made it 4-0 for the Huskies and they advanced to the next round of the tournament.
Vs. Xavier
After defeating Creighton, UConn got the chance to avenge their 0-7 defeat earlier in the season against Xavier. Wright and Constantinou started things off again for the Huskies but didn’t have as favorable of a result as the previous round. Seniors Anna Roggenburk and Imani Graham outlasted the two Huskies to secure the 6-4 victory. Senior Nansi Toskova and freshman Victoria Matos also fell in their match, losing 6-3 to sophomore Emily Flowers and freshman Sofia Mazzucato. The Musketeers got the doubles point and kept their foot on the gas for singles.
Xavier made light work of UConn in three quick singles matches. Graham defeated Wright 6-3, 6-1, Roggenburk defeated Constantinou 6-2, 6-0 and sophomore Abby Nugent defeated Petri Bere 6-1, 6-4. The Musketeers walked away with their 4-0 victory and will advance to the Big East Championship; they’ll face the winner of the St. John’s/DePaul match. It was a disappointing showing for UConn, who finished the season a combined 0-11 in matches versus Xavier but showed great determination to advance in the first place.