Fordham Women’s Tennis hasn’t dropped a point in six weeks. Now, the Rams stand just three matches away from their second Atlantic 10 (A-10) title in program history.
Fordham packs its bags for the A-10 Championships in Orlando, Florida, riding its second-longest win streak since digital record-keeping began in 2006 — but with unfinished business to tend to.
The Maroon and White capped off their regular season with another 4-0 trouncing of an A-10 foe, this time directed towards the University of Rhode Island. Enjoying sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 60s, Fordham defended the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts Saturday afternoon, climbing to 13-9 overall, 5-0 in conference and 8-0 at home.
The Rams extended their winning streak to nine matches — they’ve outscored opponents 45-0 in that span — and finished the regular season a combined 23-0 against A-10 opponents when counting up all team points.
In the nine-game stretch, which started March 8, Fordham captured 99 of 110 finished sets, making up for a 3-8 start to the campaign by winning 10 of its last 11.
Saturday, Fordham won its ninth straight doubles point to open up the early afternoon affair. Senior Nevena Kolarevic and junior Julianne Nguyen paired for a 6-0 sweep at No. 1, while junior Lily Chitambar and freshman Valerija Kargina clinched the point with a 7-5 finish in the middle court.
For just the second time during the Rams’ streak, both those wins were needed. Sophomores Paola Dalmonico and Catalina Padilla dropped the No. 3 match, 6-3. With both sides onlooking, Chitamber and Kargina pulled out their sixth straight win as a tandem to send the Rams to singles up 1-0.
Carrying over her momentum, Kargina waltzed through her No. 3 matchup, 6-1, 6-1, to build on the lead. The reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week has won a team-high eight straight in singles. In fact, she’s won with such dominance and speed that, even though the team often plays clinch scoring, all 21 of her singles matches have finished.
Fittingly, Chitambar finished next, taking home a sixth straight win of her own, 6-0, 6-4, at court No. 5.
Kolarevic — the reigning A-10 Player of the Week — was on the doorstep of another Rams point, leading 7-6 (7-2), 4-1, when Nguyen wrapped up a 6-0, 6-4 win to end the match. Between doubles and singles, Nguyen has now won each of her last 16 completed matches.
The Rams are headed south to the United States Tennis Association National Campus for the 12-te
am A-10 tournament, where the winner will take home the A-10 title and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Fordham received the No. 1 seed and earned a bye; on Thursday, they will play the winner of Dayton University and Duquesne University’s matchup in Wednesday’s opening round. The semifinals are slated for Friday, and a champion will be crowned Saturday.
With the win, Fordham Women’s Tennis will earn their second A-10 Championship, and their first since 2022 — but to do so, they will have to get through Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). VCU has won nine of the last 12 A-10 titles and ended Fordham’s season last year in the semifinals.
VCU just narrowly edged Fordham for first in the preseason poll and also carries an unblemished 5-0 A-10 record into Orlando, where they hold the No. 2 seed. While Fordham’s path remains uncertain, a battle of the Rams feels fated with a piece of A-10 history at stake.
