By TARA SLEDJESKI
STAFF WRITER
The season may be over for the Fordham women’s tennis team following a loss to Xavier in the Atlantic 10 tournament, but prior to that loss it first managed a big win. A year after a disappointing loss to a lower seed in the A-10 tournament, the Rams pulled off a win against Duquesne in the tournament.
The Rams went into the tournament ranked seventh and got the 4-1 win in the opening round against 10th seed Duquesne. The tournament opened up on Thursday, April 18 in Charlottesville, Va. On that day, the Rams kept up a recent trend of losing the doubles point before a strong singles showing.
The Rams lost two of their three doubles matches en route to losing the point. The team of Angelika Dabu and Julie Leong was the only one to win their doubles match. In singles, Sarah Ali, Anika Novacek, Bella Genkina and Amy Simidian all won their matches.
“It was really nice to advance past the first round into the quarterfinals.” Dabu said afterward.
The win over Duquesne allowed the Rams to play the next day, Friday, April 19 in Charlottesville. In a rematch of a game from two weeks prior, the Rams took on 2nd seed Xavier to try and avenge their 4-3 loss. Unfortunately, the second match against Xavier had the same result as the first, as the Rams lost 4-3 again.
Once again, the Rams got off to a slow start, losing the doubles point. Leong and Dabu were once again the only doubles team to win. Novacek won her singles match; Dabu and Leong also took theirs. The match came down to Ali’s singles match, in which she lost in three sets.
“The 4-3 loss was somewhat heartbreaking because we came so close to moving on and defeating the No. 2 seed, who eventually lost in the finals of the conference tournament.” Dabu said. “However, we all had a lot to be proud of because we fought our hardest and did not give up.”
While the Rams did not get quite the finish they wanted to their season, they did improve from their previous season and throughout this season.
“The 11-8 overall record is still pretty strong to me,” Dabu said. “Knowing how we each had to overcome our own confidence issues after a rough start.”
The Rams also look strong going into next year, with Simidian being the only player departing.
“Next season, we will be without our top player and senior captain, Amy, so there will be some adjusting to do,” Dabu said. “But I’m sure we will stay a strong team leading up to next year’s conference tournament, where we hope to do greater damage.”
