The University of Connecticut’s women’s tennis team have continued their strong early season form with a successful weekend at home at the UConn Invitational. Using the hidden dual match format, the Huskies went 6-3 in doubles play and 13-6 in singles play overall against three formidable opposition schools: Wesleyan, Fordham and Army West Point.
On Friday, UConn took on the runners-up from the 2024 National Championship, Wesleyan, but the Huskies didn’t let that deter them. Freshman Chloe Lomans and sophomore Victoria Matos opened the day with a 6-3 doubles win, followed closely by another 6-3 win from partners sophomore Caroline Hinshaw and senior Isabel Petre Bere. Senior duo Maria Constantinou and Olivia Wright wrapped up Friday’s doubles action in a thrilling tiebreaker, but ultimately fell 6-7 to Wesleyan partners Renna Mohsen-Breen and Lane Durkin.
The intense action continued into singles-play, with three of the six matches going to a third set. UConn’s Constantinou, Petri Bere and junior Cameron Didion all cruised to straight sets victories, losing just 11 games total between them. After dropping the first set of her singles match 4-6, Wright valiantly bounced back with a dominant 6-0 second set which forced the third. Ultimately, Wright fell short in the super tiebreaker, resulting in an 8-10 scoreline in favor of Wesleyan’s Jackie Soloveychik. Sophomore Isabella Asenov held her nerve to emerge brilliantly in the third set against the Cardinals’ sophomore Macie Carlos, winning 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 and Matos followed suit after also dropping her second set, steadying for a 6-0, 4-6, 10-7 match win.
The invitational continued for the Huskies on Saturday against the Fordham Rams. In doubles play, Lomans and Matos fell to Fordham’s Bergmann and Chitamber 3-6, but UConn rebounded through Hinshaw and Petre Bere’s performance, powering to a 6-2 win. Duo Constantinou and Wright had their serve broken by Fordham’s Nevena Kolarevic and Catalina Padilla Udaeta, reducing their 4-1 advantage to 4-3. However, Constantinou’s power and composure close to the net halted Fordham’s surge, returning several well-placed volleys to close out the match, securing her and her partner Wright their first win of the weekend, 6-3.
The Rams and the Huskies split their singles play, with Lomans continuing to impress with a 6-4 and 6-1 victory. Constantinou’s singles performance was the highlight of the day, defeating Paola Dalmonico in an electric comeback effort, 4-6, 7-5, 10-3.
On the final day of the invitational, UConn faced Army West Point. Hinshaw and Petre Bere continued their dominant doubles form, cruising to win 6-2, and Wright and Constantinou followed up their impressive Saturday doubles performance with a 6-1 thrashing. Army’s junior duo of Emma Sy and Ylan Duong got the better of UConn’s Lomans and Asenov, defeating them 5-7.
In singles action, Didion’s intense encounter with Army’s Paulina Feoli ended in a 7-6, 6-2 sweep, limiting her unforced errors in a dominant second set to put the match away. Lomans, Petre Bere and Wright all prevailed with straight set wins over their opponents to cap off a day the Huskies commanded from start to finish.
Despite the hot conditions all weekend long, the Huskies produced imposing performances that will boost their confidence heading into the Dartmouth Invitational in two weeks’ time, taking place from September 27-29.
Tennis is just ace!