By Charlie Maisano

While most of the students at Fordham were off for Spring Break, the Fordham Women’s Tennis team continued to play on. Prior to the break, the Rams were in the midst of a two-game losing streak and had a record below .500, 4-5, for the first time all season. To get their season back on track, the women had to play two road games against formidable opponents.

The Rams were able to escape the cold, snowy weather here in New York and head down to Daytona Beach, Florida for their first game. They faced off against Bethune-Cookman University, who entered the contest on a five game winning streak after starting the season 0-5. Fordham was already at a disadvantage to start the game with the absence of their number-one singles and number-one doubles player, junior Carina Ma. Ma missed Fordham’s loss to Temple on March 9 due to an undisclosed reason and remained out in March.

The Wildcats came out and played aggressively against the Rams, which led to their 5-2 victory. Fordham struggled early on and dropped the doubles point. Senior Estelle Wong and junior Tatiana Grigoryan fell to freshman Rehaana Butt and senior Matea Roki, 2-6. Junior Gianna Insogna and senior Carolina Sa put up a fight against senior Alejandra Vidal and junior Karen Romero, but were unable to close out a victory with a 6-7 loss. The one doubles victory the Rams earned was due to the lack of players for the Wildcats. Therefore, junior Whitney Weisburg and sophomore Maia Balce won their match by forfeit.
In singles, Fordham didn’t have much success either. Insogna and Weisburg were the only Rams to win their matches. Insogna defeated sophomore Phatsimo Ruele in two sets, 6-1, 6-3. Weisburg won her match by forfeit once again due to the lack of players for the Wildcats.

With their record at 4-6 and their losing streak at three games, the Rams had to buckle down and prepare for their second A-10 matchup of the season against the George Washington Colonials. In their previous game, the Colonials had a rough outing as they were demolished by the James Madison Dukes, 7-0. With both teams coming off crushing losses, a win was necessary in order to get back on track and finish spring break on a positive note.

Unlike the Colonials, the Rams were unable to bounce back from their previous loss and continued to play out of sorts. George Washington swept all three doubles matches and won all but one singles match to cruise to a 6-1 victory. The closest doubles match for the Rams came from the two players who have stepped up in big moments all season for the team, Balce and Insogna. They battled and fought for two sets with George Washington freshman Julia Herlogsson and junior Sara Grubac, but eventually lost, 6-7, 5-7.

In singles, Insogna was the outlier for the second straight game. She picked up the lone win for the team against sophomore Diana Kussainova, 6-2, 7-6.

There are still five games remaining in the regular season before the women head to Florida once again for the A-10 Tournament. If there is a time for the team to turn the season around, end their four game losing streak, and try to fix their 4-8 record, it is this weekend. The Rams face two more A-10 opponents in the Bronx, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks and the UMass Minutewomen.

This weekend will be do or die time for the Rams. With its opportunities numbered, the team will have to stay confident and play like they played the first three games of the season. If the Rams don’t, they will be in serious jeopardy of not making the deep run in the A-10 tournament they so desperately coveted.