In the wake of one of the program’s best-ever seasons, Fordham Women’s Tennis enters 2024 play with a mix of high hopes and new faces. However, in the team’s first two matches against Cornell University and Syracuse University, they lost 6-1 and 7-0, respectively.
That said, it’s far too early to diminish the team’s spring-semester outlook, given its combination of returning talent and the addition of several standout newcomers. Freshmen Cindy Xhou, Julianne Nguyenz and Anlin Xie as well as graduate students Raffaela Alhach, Camila Baeza, Rose Hu, Demi Jhaveri and Franny Shea are all looking to continue to make an imprint during the second half of their first years with the club. Xie accounted for Fordham’s lone point in their opener against Cornell, winning 6-2, 6-2 in #4 singles over Victoria Zhao. While the club’s two losses appear at first glance to be blowouts, the Rams fought valiantly in singles: against Syracuse, Alhach sent her #1 singles match to three sets, narrowly losing the third, 4-6; senior Eleni Fasoula dropped her #3 singles match in heartbreaking fashion, falling in a thrilling back-and-forth tiebreaker, 13-15.
The same story can be seen down the line, with Xhou and Shea losing tiebreakers of their own in #5 and #6 singles versus Cornell. Through two matches, the lone point of concern for the Michael Sowter-led team was their performance in doubles, where they failed to pick up a win in six matches. After a frustrating, albeit competitive, first two matches, the reigning Atlantic 10 champs marched into Marist College with their sights set on their first win. Their doubles trouble continued, where they opened the evening in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., by dropping two of three matches, giving the Red Foxes the 1-0 upper hand going into singles.
With the prospect of a 0-3 start to the season dangling perilously in front of them, the team left little up for debate by sweeping the singles matches in a compelling fashion. Across the board, #1-6 singles were won by Fasoula (6-4, 6-3), Xie (6-1, 6-1), junior Lorraine Bergman (6-2, 7-6 [8-6]), Nguyen (6-2, 6-1), sophomore Sofie Siem (6-0, 7-6 [7-2]) and Jhaveri (6-0, 6-2). The club did not drop a single set, making for a cheerful and optimistic trip back to campus on Sunday night.
Having captured some momentum, the team looks to build on a 1-2 start by evening its overall record in the A-10 opener on Feb. 10 at St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies began the season 1-3; a barometer for the upcoming match is the teams’ shared opponent, Syracuse — the Orange dismantled St. Bonaventure 7-0 on Jan. 27, less than a week after they posted the same result against Fordham. One can also refer to the team’s lone meeting in 2023, where the Rams breezed to a 6-1 win. The match promises to be exciting, and the Rams will go into it with over a week of rest and aspirations to start a winning streak early in the year.
