In one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record in New York City, all Fordham Women’s Tennis needed was some sunshine to get back to its winning ways.
Despite a 3-8 start, the Rams rattled off three straight wins in balmy Hilton Head, South Carolina, opening Atlantic 10 (A-10) play in commanding fashion.
Fordham won their matches — the first outdoor competitions of the spring season — by a combined score of 15-0, a figure that fails to encapsulate the extent of the Maroon’s domination. Across 36 completed sets, Fordham beat their opponents 35-1.
The onslaught began with a doubleheader on Wednesday, including the first A-10 matchup of the season versus George Washington University (GW) and a non-conference showdown with South Carolina State University (SCSU).
Against GW, Preseason All A-10 Team members senior Nevena Kolarevic and junior Julianne Nguyen earned their second sweep of the year, taking No. 1 doubles, 6-0. The Rams Sophomore No. 3 doubles team, featuring Catalina Padilla and Paola Dalmonico, clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 finish.
The Revolutionaries gave the Rams their biggest challenge of the week in singles, where the Revs scored two or more points in 11 of 12 sets, but failed to win a single one. Kolarevic, Dalmonico, freshman Valerija Kargina, Padilla, Nguyen and junior Lily Chitambar each grabbed the win, securing a 7-0 sweep in the match.
Fordham was even more dominant in its second battle of the day, taking down SCSU, 4-0. The same tandems won in the same spots in doubles — both Kolarevic/Nguyen and Dalmonico/Padilla took 6-2 results to earn the point.
In singles, Kolarevic and Nguyen got the match off, with Dalmonico sliding into the No. 1 spot for the third time in her career, winning 6-0, 6-3. Clinching a 4-0 win for the Rams were Kargina and junior Aya Matsunaga; Kargina took the No. 2 matchup, 6-2, 6-3, while Matsunaga scored a 6-0, 6-3 win in her first match of the day.
The Rams carried the momentum into Thursday, sweeping George Mason, 7-0, to move to 2-0 in the early conference season.
At doubles, Kolarevic and Nguyen scored their fifth straight win, 6-2, moving to 8-5 in the spring season after advancing to nationals as a pairing during the fall. In the No. 2 spot, Chitambar and Kargina snagged the doubles point with a 6-3 win, their fifth of the year. Padilla and Dalmonico’s match went incomplete, but the sophomores have won eight of their last nine finishes, putting them at 9-3 on the season and 21-4 in their career.
The same three Rams took home the singles points on Thursday, with Dalmonico, Kargina and Matsunaga manning the No. 1, 2 and 5 spots, respectively, for the second straight time. Kargina posted her first career double bagel, while Dalmonico and Matsunaga won in straight sets.
Heating up across the board, Nguyen, Padilla, Dalmonico and Kargina each carry win streaks of at least three matches in singles play. Even without Kolarevic in the No. 1 spot, the Rams still notched all six singles points across their final two matches of the week. They earned their top performers some rest finding while a groove to cap off an arduous travel season.
After 16 matches and two months of waiting, Fordham finally returns to its on-campus home, the Hawthorn/Rooney Tennis Courts, this Sunday at 3 p.m. for its outdoor home opener against St. Joseph’s University. The duel kicks off a six-match home streak to end the year, the longest since Head Coach Mike Sowter took over in 2021. Fordham will not travel again until A-10 Championships, hosted in sunny Orlando, Flordia.
