Genkina Lifts Rams over NJIT, Falls to Army 5-2

By The Fordham Ram on February 12, 2014 • ( 0 )

By TARA CANGIALOSI
WEB EDITOR

The Rams’ win has given them confidence heading into their next match against the Binghamton Bears on Feb. 15. (THE RAM ARCHIVES)

Fans were on the edge of their seats as the match between the Fordham women’s tennis team and NJIT came down to the sixth singles match. Junior Bella Genkina came back from a set down against Hannalae MacDonald to win the deciding point, lifting the Rams to a 4-3 victory in Newark, N.J. on Saturday, Feb. 8.

With the match tied at three-all, Genkina took the court for the Rams in hope of earning the win. NJIT’s MacDonald took the first set, 6-3, but Genkina rebounded to take the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4). She then went to win the super tiebreaker, 10-7, giving Fordham the overall win.

“It felt awesome to clinch the match. I was definitely relieved once I won the last point,” Genkina said in an email. “Our team is small but very supportive, so winning that last match was a true team effort.”

Before her match-winning performance in the singles tournament, Genkina teamed up with fellow junior Anika Novacek, where the pair beat MacDonald and Nathalie Habegger, 6-3. Also, juniors Elliesa Ball and Sarah Ali earned the point at first doubles, topping Ksenia Kuzmenko and Jana Luste 7-5.

In singles play, Ali defeated Natalia Melibeu, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 at second singles, and freshman Destiny Grunin upended Carolina Zanotta at fifth singles.

However, NJIT won first, third and fourth singles, tying the match at three. This left the sixth singles match between Genkina and MacDonald as the deciding point. With Genkina’s strong play, Fordham improved to 3-0 in dual matches this season, while NJIT dropped to 2-2.

“It’s still early in the season, so it’s a nice confidence boost, but we know we still have tougher matches coming up that we need to focus on,” Genkina said.

One of these tough matches came the following day, when the Rams traveled to West Point, N.Y. to face Army on Sunday, Feb. 9.

After a long match versus NJIT the night before, the Rams struggled in both singles and doubles competition. Army swept the doubles point, winning all three matches, and went on to collect four singles victories to claim a 5-2 win over the Rams, improving its home record to 6-0.

At first singles, Ball won her first set against Jamila Paul 6-2, but dropped the next two, 6-7 (6) and 5-10. Ali then fell to Carolyn Pitman 0-6, 1-6 at second singles, Elle Taylor beat Grunin 6-2, 7-5 at fourth singles, and Ally Hayley defeated Genkina 7-6, 3-7, 10-8.

The highlights for the Rams in singles play occurred at third and fifth singles, respectively. Dabu defeated Gabrielle Spindler 6-1, 6-7, 10-7, and Leong beat Nan Porter 7-5, 6-3.

Despite the tough loss to the Black Knights, the Rams looked positively on the weekend’s results, and especially on the perseverance the team showed in Saturday’s match at NJIT.

“The win [against NJIT] gives us an optimistic attitude for the season,” Genkina said.

The Rams will look to bounce back from the loss and continue to strive for success in their upcoming matches. They will next be in action on Feb. 15, when they travel to Binghamton University in Vestal, N.Y.