In 2024, Fordham University Women’s Tennis ended their regular season on fire, winning nine of their last 10 matches and sweeping St. Joseph’s University (SJU) in their last bout before the Atlantic 10 tournament.
A year later, they’ve done the exact same thing.
The new-look Rams have won nine of their last 10 matches, including a sweep of SJU to cap off the regular season.
Despite a completely restructured roster, coach Michael Sowter seems keen on delivering consistent results.
Unlike 2024, Fordham will enter the A-10 Championships, which take place in Orlando, Florida, from Thursday, April 24, to Sunday, April 27, as the #1 seed.
The Rams finished conference play with an unblemished 8-0 record. If you add the points from those matches, they’re 34-9. The closest they came to losing was against Virginia Commonwealth University, when they won by a measly 4-2 final score.
Since the last issue of The Fordham Ram, they’re 4-0 overall, and a combined 17-0 in total points. They haven’t lost a point in over a month.
In an away match two weeks ago against one of the conference’s best squads, the University of Rhode Island, they cruised to a 4-0 win. The conference’s second-best team, the University of Massachusetts, canceled its match against Fordham.
The indomitable Rams enter the tournament on a seven-match win streak. They’re the team to beat.
On Saturday, April 13, against Long Island University, the Rams savored their last taste of home. Senior Lorraine Bergmann, one of the more accomplished players to step on their home clay, was honored as the squad’s lone graduating student. Bergmann is the only Fordham player remaining from their 2023 championship season, when she compiled a stellar 9-1 record at doubles.
In the caged confines of the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts, the group celebrated with a 4-0 demolition of the rivaling Sharks. The highlight, of course, was a 6-1 doubles win from the woman of the match, Bergmann, and her partner, sophomore Lily Chitambar.
Closing the regular season last Saturday at SJU, Fordham made quick work of a Hawks squad that entered play a measly 2-5 against A-10 competition. The Rams were led by junior Nevena Kolarevic — the #1 player in the conference by Universal Tennis Rating — who won points at singles and doubles. She finishes the regular season with an undefeated 10-0 record in singles; at doubles, she hasn’t lost since March. She is, in all likelihood, your 2025 A-10 Player of the Year.
She’s not alone, though.
At second doubles, Bergmann and Chitambar pulled out a 7-6 win. At third, it was the freshmen tandem of Catalina Padilla Udaeta and Paola Ueno Dalmonico that continued their dominance with a 6-3 victory. The underclassmen finish the season 9-1 as a duo.
The Rams made it 5-0 at singles, where they won all four finished matches. Joining Kolarevic, Bergmann and Dalmonico with individual wins was junior Aya Matsunaga, who picked up a hard-fought 6-2, 7-6 triumph at sixth position.
While these Rams seem poised to bring home their second A-10 title in three years, the path won’t be easy.
The A-10s, put simply, are a different animal. Fordham’s trip to Florida is as long as any team’s in the conference. While the Rams will enjoy a first-round bye, they’ll have to play three matches in as many days in order to win the title. With a minuscule eight-woman roster, it’s worth monitoring how the intense schedule will affect them.
Last year, Fordham fell short in the semi-finals. Though they had a bigger roster, it was day three that got to them. Coach Sowter will need to channel the same energy he instilled in his 2023 team for this one to lift the trophy on Sunday.
Should they complete their story-book season with an emphatic final chapter, they’ll be able to write an epilogue at the NCAA Tournament, with a national title up for grabs.
Let’s not be over-zealous, though. Before they turn the page, Fordham will see its first test this Friday at 9 a.m., when they’ll take on either #8 Dayton University or #9 George Washington University.
If they can continue the magic that has carried them this far, they won’t just be writing their own story — they’ll be rewriting the A-10 record books, too.
