After a lengthy break from competitive play, the Fordham women’s tennis team returned to action this weekend in Westchester against Drexel University. These matches marked the start of the team’s spring season, but unfortunately, the new year began with a loss for the Rams when Drexel narrowly pulled out a 4-3 victory due to strong play in singles matches.

For Fordham, singles play was an apparent weakness, with some veteran players struggling without playing aside their usual doubles partners. It started with graduate student Lindsay Hung losing in three sets, followed by senior Avery Aude being defeated in two close sets. Luckily, junior Eleni Fasoula continued her steady improvement with a three-set victory, contributing one of the three Fordham points earned on the day. Another of the three points also came in singles, with sophomore Lorraine Bergmann securing a win through three sets. The other losses came from graduate student Carlota Casasampere Escoda and freshman Sofie Siem.
In the high-energy three doubles matches, Fordham earned their third and final point of the day when they beat Drexel by dominating two doubles matches quickly and efficiently. The duos of graduate student Valeriya Deminova and Aude, along with Casasampere Escoda and Hung, both won their first matches. Head coach Mike Sowter was pleased with the team’s doubles performance, saying, “I thought we came out with good energy and played solid doubles but full credit to Drexel.” He also explained how they will look to perform better next week against Marist College after calling this first event a “hard-fought battle.”

Overall, this year’s squad is looking to build on its fantastic previous season where they reached the Atlantic 10 Championship. However, this won’t be easy, and this first loss isn’t ideal for setting a winning tone. On the positive side, outside of a three-day slate of matches in California, their schedule is relatively close to home and involves less travel than the previous years. Small advantages like this, in addition to having many returning key contributors, give players and fans alike a reason to be hopeful that another deep tournament run could be on the way.