This past weekend, Villanova Women’s Tennis grabbed two victories on the road, winning, 4-3, over Big East rival Seton Hall University (2-4, 0-1 Big East) on Saturday, Feb. 7, and 5-2 against Lehigh University (2-3) on Sunday, Feb. 8.
To open the match on Saturday, Seton Hall took the doubles match, winning two of the three courts. Villanova (3-4, 1-0 Big East) won on the first court, where seniors Emi Callahan and Maggie Gehrig earned a 6-2 win, though the other two pairings fell to the Pirates.
“It really should’ve been 6-1. We should’ve been able to win the doubles,” head coach Steve Reiniger said. “We’re going to be focused on that next week at practice. One doubles team was playing great, but with the other two doubles teams, we need to work out some kinks.”
In singles play, Villanova dominated, winning four matches to secure the win. Gehrig, at court No. 2, earned a straight-sets win: 6-1, 6-4. On court No. 4, junior Jenna Stevens took home a 6-4, 6-2 win, then junior Lauren Monti kept it going with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Sophomore Alina Kornyeva won at court No. 6, with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph.
The Wildcats’ only loss was on the third court, where junior Miriam Gondorova’s match was pulled. Although Gondorova was up 6-4, she was contending with back issues, and the team needed her healthy.
“Miriam was up 6-4…the match had been clinched, so we pulled it because her back had been giving her problems. We wanted her healthy today,” Reiniger said. The team didn’t need her, but it would’ve been nice against a Big East opponent to beat them 5-2 instead of 4-3. And then Miriam played great at number three today. So she played some great singles both days.”
After taking home the win against Seton Hall, the team traveled to Lehigh for a Sunday morning matchup. Again, the team lost the doubles point, but secured the match with a strong showing in the singles portion. Callahan and Gehrig secured a 6-2 win on the first court, but the pairs on the second and third courts fell to the Mountain Hawks.
Women’s tennis answered to the early disadvantage by earning wins on courts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Gehrig played a 7-5, 6-4 battle, Gondorova earned a 6-2, 6-1 win, Monti, on court No. 4 won 6-2, 6-0, Stevens clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-2 victory, and on the sixth court, Kornyeva earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
“Bucknell and Navy have always been tough opponents. I don’t know if we’ve ever beaten Navy, but we’ve had our chances,” Reiniger said about the team’s upcoming opponents. “And with Bucknell, we beat them last year, but the year before we lost. So we have to come out and play our best. And that’s really what I want to see. I don’t really focus on the score…I want to see us play good tennis, particularly on the doubles court.”
This weekend, Villanova will travel to Lewisburg, PA, playing Bucknell University on Saturday Feb. 14. On Sunday, Feb. 15, the team will head to Annapolis, MD to face the United States Naval Academy.