Women’s Tennis Looking to Find Stride
Junior Arina Taluyenko continued her success coming off Atlantic 10 Athlete of the Week honor, clinching one of two points for the Rams on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
The Women’s Tennis squad fell at Temple University, losing 2-4 as Taluyenko and sophomore Valeriya Deminova were the only winners in their respective singles matches.
Taluyenko won 6-3, 6-3 in first singles, Deminova won 7-5, 6-4 in the number two spot, while senior Maia Balce dropped third singles 7-5, 6-2 and freshman Weronika Pociej lost the first game of fourth singles 6-4 and got an early lead in the second before the game was retired. Freshman Avery Aude dropped fifth singles in straight 6-0, 6-4, and sophomore Genevieve Quenville won her first game 7-5, lost the second 2-4, and the tiebreaker remained unfinished.
In first doubles, Taluyenko and Pociej were not enough together, and dropped the game 6-1. Sophomores Nicole Li and Valeriya Deminova lost 6-2 in third doubles, and the Aude-Quenville squad finished a close 7-5, unable to secure a win.
On Friday, the team hoped to bounce back as they hosted Marshall University in its first home match of the season, yet the day did not go as it wanted, losing 7-1.
Changing up the doubles pairing proved unsuccessful. In first doubles, Aude and Quenville lost 4-6, while Li and Deminova dropped their match 5-7, and Taluyenko and Balce lost 4-6.
In singles, Taluyenko put up a strong fight in the number one spot, yet went down 6-7, 4-6. Deminova in second singles lost 0-6, 4-6, Balce 1-6, 3-6, and Avery Aude earned the lone point in her fourth singles spot, defeating Marshall’s Hansewyck 2-6, 2-6. Quenville came up short in fifth singles, 4-6, 5-7, and Li lost sixth singles 3-6, 0-6.
The Rams will take on Seton Hall University this Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. in Providence, New Jersey, before heading downtown to battle Washington State University on Monday, Feb. 24 at 11 a.m.