The Fordham University Rams entered the week with a losing record; they left it with a winning one.
The Rams played their eighth and ninth road matches of the spring season but had the luxury of staying local to New York — a refreshing change for a club that has played in Kansas, Rhode Island and Syracuse in recent weeks. On Wednesday, March 13, the team ventured to their neighboring borough of Queens for a match against Queens College, City University of New York.
QC entered play 9-3, while Fordham sat at 4-5. In another change of pace, the teams faced off in singles play before doubles, where star freshman Anlin Xie got her first nod at #1 singles as a Ram, picking up a momentous two-set win over QC’s Eva Rivoal. Senior Eleni Fasoula continued to pace the team toward victory, delivering a dominant showing in second singles, winning 6-2, 6-3. It was more of the same at third singles, where graduate student Franny Shea earned Fordham a hard-fought third point by going the distance against Caroline Hany-Fawzy, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
At fourth singles, freshman Julianne Nguyen wrapped up the team victory by posting a near-identical stat line to Shea, winning 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. The Knights snatched a point at #5 singles before the Rams put a bow on things at #6 singles, with junior Lorraine Bergmann picking up a thrilling 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) win in her first singles match since Feb.18.
With the match decided, the teams agreed to suspend play midway through doubles play due to time constraints at the host’s QC Tennis Bubble facilities, ultimately giving the Michael Sowter-coached Rams a 5-1 win over the Knights.
On St. Patrick’s Day, the Rams tried to levy luck in their favor against Long Island University. Upon traveling to Port Washington, the team entered troubled waters, with the Sharks picking up the match’s doubles point. The Rams’ duo of senior Rose Hu and Fasoula nearly captured a win at #2, where the Sharks scraped by 7-5. At third doubles, Shea and Nguyen went to a tiebreak before eventually falling 6-7.
At singles, graduate student Rafaela Alhach couldn’t pull away against Leo Boisseau, narrowly losing 4-6, 4-6. In the jaws of defeat, Fordham delivered an inspiring effort to close out the day. Hu rallied at second singles, taking a second set tiebreak, 7-6 (7-3), to send her match to a tiebreak. In the bridge set, Hu gave the Rams a point with a 6-4 win.
Xie grabbed yet another win at third singles, edging out Lucy Garriues 7-5, 7-5. Xie has now won three consecutive matches at singles, bringing her overall record to 6-3; the freshman has more singles wins than any other Ram this season. Meanwhile, Shea now holds the record for the longest win streak by any Ram this season, picking up a whopping fourth straight win at fifth singles, 6-4, 6-3.
In a somewhat bizarre fashion, the Rams finished off the Sharks at fourth and sixth singles when LIU’s competitors retired due to injury. While Fasoula and Nguyen are credited for the victories, they likely would not have won had their opponents remained healthy, with both having been on the verge of finishing off straight-set wins. It was a 5-2 win for the Rams, who traveled home 6-5 on the season.
Hopefully, the team hasn’t gotten too used to the comforts of New York as they fly all the way to Beaumont, Texas, to face Lamar University on Tuesday, March 26. Thereafter, they’ll take on Loyola-New Orleans, Southern University and A&M College, and Nicholls State University in a three-game tilt in La. before finally returning to the Bronx to host their Atlantic 10 rival, the University of Richmond Spiders. Before the road trip, the team will enjoy a week off from play.
