On Wednesday, March 18, Villanova women’s tennis (9-6, 1-1 Big East) swept St. Joseph’s,7-0, but followed up the win with a 5-2 Big East loss at home against St. John’s (11-5, 3-1 Big East) on Sunday, March 22.

Villanova took home the doubles point on Wednesday, with a 6-0 victory at No. 1 from seniors Emi Callahan and Maggie Gehrig, a 6-3 win from sophomore Olivia Corcoran and junior Miriam Gondorova at No. 3 and an inconclusive 5-5 result at No. 2.

“First doubles were huge on Wednesday,” head coach Steven Reiniger said. “Emi and Maggie played a pretty strong team, and they did really well.”

The Wildcats won all six singles matches. Gehrig had a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 2, and at No. 3, Gondorova claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win.

Corcoran, at No. 1, lost the first set, but battled back to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win. Stevens went three sets as well at No. 4, and junior Lauren Monti, at No. 5, with a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (7) tiebreak. To finish the match, freshman Alina Kornyeva took home a 6-3, 6-2 win.

After the sweep against St. Joseph’s (1-11), the Wildcats fell to Big East opponent St. John’s. Villanova claimed the doubles point, but fell short in singles play.

Monti and Stevens, at No. 2, took a 6-4 victory, and Corcoran and Gondorova earned a 7-5 win at No. 3, to secure the doubles point. Gehrig, with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 win, earned Villanova its sole singles point on Sunday.

“We won the doubles point today,” Reiniger said. “Big East match. I thought we put ourselves in a position to win the match and just came up a little short. They were a very good team, so it’s no shame in losing to St. John’s. It just could have looked a little different for us.”

In singles play, all courts lost the first set, forcing Villanova to try and play catch-up on Sunday.

“We didn’t win the first set in any of the courts in singles, so I think that hurt us not winning the first set in singles,” Reiniger said. “So we were fighting, trying to get ourselves back into it. And we did on a couple of courts. Maggie and Miriam had a great second set.”

On Friday, Villanova will compete at home against Rider, and, weather permitting, will play outdoors.

“Hopefully, the weather will cooperate, and we’ll be outside,” Reiniger said. “It looks like Friday is fine as far as playing the match outside, so hopefully we’ll be able to get practice outdoors and not indoors this week.”

Women’s tennis will face Rider (2-10) at the Villanova Tennis Complex on Friday, March 27. The match is set to begin at 3:00 p.m.