Consistency is the name of the game for the Fordham women’s tennis team this season, as the squad looks to establish a winning precedent after a shaky 2014.
The team ended its campaign last spring with a loss to the top seeded VCU Rams in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Though filled with inconsistencies, the season did produce some accomplishments worth building on in 2015. The team won three of four games to close out the regular season, scored an Atlantic 10 tournament win over the University of Rhode Island and celebrated Destiny Grunin being named “Atlantic 10 Women’s Tennis Rookie of the Week.”
Unfortunately, capitalizing on any momentum generated last year has been hampered by recent weather. The same conditions that have forced the university to shut down five times in the last two months have forced the cancellation of practices and the rescheduling of matches, taking time away from what could have resulted in better early season cohesiveness. Luckily for the Rams, their senior-ladened roster should prevent any issues regarding chemistry from becoming too serious. The squad features five seniors, giving the team a serious early season advantage when it comes to doubles matches. The consistency developed over the past three seasons also allows the girls to pick up right where they left off in terms of practicing.
“We are working hard at playing practice matches and running drills with each other,” said Bella Genkina, a senior who won 13 singles matches during her junior year. “Most of the days we practice at the same time as the men’s team, so sometimes we mix it up and play with them. We’re definitely looking for ways to make our practice seem as close as possible to matches to be mentally and physically prepared when we compete.”
That tenacity in practice has resulted in a .500 record since the new year, as the team defeated Duquesne to start the spring season and knocked off Army near the end of February after falling to St. John’s two weeks earlier. The Rams’ most recent contest ended in a loss at the hands of UMass. That said, the team knows its best play is yet to come.
“We are taking every win and loss as preparation for conference play and are working on improving our game after each match,” Genkina said. “Our goal is to be as prepared as we possibly can for the conference so that we can perform at our best.”
While the work put in by the team’s upperclassmen will have a lot of say in whether or not the Rams’ experience any success this year, freshman Estelle Wong has the potential to be a major contributing factor in her first year on campus. A five-star recruit out of high school, she ranked seventh in the state of California and 64th nationally. She has already won two “Atlantic 10 Women’s Tennis Rookie of the Week” honors and placed first in the B Singles group at the NJIT Winter Invitational this past January.
“Every match that we have coming up is winnable,” said Julie Leong, a senior and a captain of the team. “Our two freshman being in the starting lineup is a huge help.”
Leong’s expectations for the season are equally as high.
“As a captain, I expect the team to make it to at least the semi-finals round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament,” she said. “It would be a great feeling to end my last semester of tennis with a strong fight from all of us.”
The strong senior class, coupled with talented underclassmen should spell success for the Rams come April.
