Over spring break, the Fordham women’s tennis team extended their streak to nine consecutive wins with 7-0 sweeps of both Bryant and Northern Iowa. With a chance to push their win streak into double digits, the Rams notched their third consecutive shutout with a 7-0 win over Binghamton on Friday, March. 24 at Life Time Athletic in Harrison, N.Y.
“Honestly, I think we are unstoppable, and we are getting better every day,” said sophomore Carina Ma. “Everyone on the team is doing excellent this season, and we gained both confidence and experience from every school that we played against. I’m just proud to be on this team.”
The Rams continued their recent dominance by taking the doubles point once again. The duo of Ma and junior Estelle Wong notched a 6-3 win over Annie DiMurio and Samara Eisenberg. The pair of senior Mayu Sato and sophomore Alexis Zobeideh defeated Olga Ostrovetsky and Paulina Tafler 6-1, while freshman Maia Balce and junior Caroline Sa completed the doubles sweep with a 6-3 victory over Rebecca Dellaway and Allison Roma.
Meanwhile, the Rams went undefeated in singles play, as Ma started it off by beating Annie DiMurio 6-4, 6-2. Wong mounted a comeback to defeat Samara Eisenberg 0-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Sato notched an easy win over Rebecca Dellaway 6-2, 6-1. Balce defeated Olga Ostrovetsky 7-5, 6-2, while senior Destiny Grunin beat Paulina Tafler 6-2, 6-2 and Alexis Zobeideh took a quick victory over Allison Roma 6-0, 6-1.
One of the team’s strengths is its experience, as there is only one freshman on the team. However, Ma points to freshman Balce’s strong performances as a key to their success. “Maia [Balce] is a really good player, I can see her passion about tennis,” said Ma. “She always tries her best in practice and I think this is the reason that she is doing so well in the matches, and she deserves it… I can’t wait to see her achievements in the future.”
“Every match from the A-10 is going to be important for me, and I know it is not going to be easy but I just want to focus on one [match] at a time and just to be positive and compete hard,” said Ma. “The only thing that matters is myself. I need to beat myself before I beat anyone else.”
The Rams’ next match comes Wednesday, March 29 against Fairleigh Dickinson at Hawthorn Rooney Courts in the Bronx, N.Y.
