Women’s Tennis suffered its second straight loss with a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Atlantic 10 rival, University of Massachusetts (UMass). The loss was Fordham’s first match against an A-10 opponent, falling to 0-1 in conference play on the season with just two more conference matches remaining. 

Running into a red-hot UMass team, Fordham mustered just two points, both of which came from singles play. Sophomore Eleni Fasoula and senior Nicole Li accounted for the two wins, improving to 7-3 and 9-3 respectively. The Rams were swept in doubles play and didn’t fare much better in singles action, as junior Avery Aude, graduate student Carlota Casasampere-Escoda, senior Genevieve Quenville and junior Rachelle Yang all suffered losses.

The loss allowed UMass to leap Fordham in the A-10 standings. For UMass, it was their fifth win in the past six matches. At 11-4, they now sit in second place behind only Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). With only two losses in their last 13 matches, this will surely be a team to watch as the A-10 tournament nears. Fordham falls to 8-4, still good for third in the A-10, but Davidson College, George Mason University and St. Louis University are all close behind. 

Fordham is now 1-2 on their latest road stretch with three more road matches remaining. The Rams have five regular season matches left before the A-10 tournament begins at the end of April. Despite enjoying great success for most of the year, Fordham’s recent struggles could be cause for concern. Last year’s squad also got off to an excellent start, going 5-1 to start the season. However, they struggled down the stretch, losing their last three regular season matches leading into tournament play. It’s not easy to maintain winning ways throughout the course of a season, but it will be necessary in what is shaping up to be an extremely competitive A-10 conference. 

The Rams will look to return to their winning ways as they continue their road trip with a pair of matches this weekend. They’ll kick things off on Saturday against North Carolina Central University. North Carolina Central ended a four-match losing streak with a win last Saturday, but at 4-12 on the year, it should be a favorable matchup for Fordham. Sunday brings Fordham’s second conference matchup of the season as they’ll stay in North Carolina to play Davidson College. Davidson rattled off a couple of wins last weekend to improve to 11-6 on the season and leap into fourth place in the A-10. A Davidson win on Sunday would allow them to leap Fordham in the standings. Davidson won seven straight matches in February but has since cooled off. Nonetheless, they’ll be a formidable opponent as Fordham attempts to keep their top three spot in the A-10.