Spring has all the makings of  an exciting and promising season for Fordham Women’s Tennis. With former Fordham Men’s Tennis head coach Michael Sowter at the helm for his first season, expectations are high. Sowter led the men’s team to a 69–38 record over six seasons, never enduring a losing season. His squad earned a sixth seed in the 2021 A-10 championship, the highest in program history, and he’ll look to carry over that success to the women’s team. 

Sowter will take on a women’s team that entered the A-10 Women’s Championship as the fifth seed last season. They went on to defeat the twelfth seed Saint Joseph’s University in the first round, before dropping to fourth seeded George Washington University in a match that could have sent them to the Final Four. 

A three-game losing streak to end the regular season took some luster away from what was otherwise a terrific year, but don’t give that skid too much thought. They got off to a red hot 5–1 start last year, an excellent indicator of this team’s capabilities. Fordham was dominant for a large portion of last year, and is certainly capable of being a top team in the A-10. If last year is any indication, they are on the doorstep of some major playoff success. 

Fordham’s 6–1 win over Wagner College back in October gave Sowter his first win in an abbreviated fall season, and left the team at 1–0 heading into the spring. This past Sunday, the spring season began on just the right foot, with the Rams defeating Fairleigh Dickinson 6-1in their season opener. Next, Fordham will host Long Island University on Feb. 12. 

This season will not come without adversity as the Rams will have a lot of traveling to do with 12 of their 17 spring games on the road. Only one of their five home games is scheduled to be held at the Hawthorne/Rooney Tennis Courts on the Rose Hill campus, so they’ll have to travel up to the Life Time Athletic Club in Harrison, New York for their other four home games.  Unfortunately, the Rams will also be without last year’s star Arina Taluyenko, who graduated after a spectacular season as a graduate student. 

There’s no need to fret too much, as Fordham can lean back on a very experienced core. Grad student Carlota Casasampere Escoda and seniors Nicole Li, Valeriya Deminova and Genevieve Quenville will look to take over alongside a talented mix of three juniors, one sophomore and one freshman. Casasampere Escoda, Li, Deminova and juniors Avery Aude and Rachel Yang were major contributors to the 6–1 win over Wagner in the fall, and sophomore Eleni Fasoula impressed, winning both her doubles and singles matchup. It’s certainly looking like we can expect big things from this group as they look to build off of last year’s success.