After a three-month-long hiatus during the winter, Women’s Tennis is swinging back into action, and the players are picking up their momentum from the fall season.
The team opened its 2015-2016 season with a successful doubles invitational at Sacred Heart. Juniors Hannah Drayton and Mayu Sato took the win in the A flight tournament against the respective doubles teams from University of Hartford, Sacred Heart and Providence. On their way to the top, Drayton and Sato dropped their teammates, freshman Lexi Zobeideh and sophomore Caroline Sa, in the semi-final round. Sophomore captain Estelle Wong and freshman Whitney Weisberg took the second title for the event in the B flight competition by defeating Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac, Providence and the University of Hartford.
The players travelled again to Connecticut to compete in the Quinnipiac Invitational in Connecticut. Zobeideh lost in B flight semifinals to Seton Hall. Sato progressed to the A flight finals and lost to Rhode Island in a 6-2, 6-4 game. Hannah Drayton and Whitney Weisburg took the title in the B flight and D flight consolation finals. Neither of the two doubles teams moved past the quarterfinal round.
Next on the schedule was a day-long invitational at West Point. Sato and Zobeideh had good weeks, succeeding in singles and teaming up in the first doubles, where they ultimately lost to Connecticut in the semifinals.
The season progressed at the Great Dane Invitational in Albany for a weekend-long tournament. Sato and Wong were both entered into the same singles bracket and ended up meeting in the finals. The team cheered as the two matched up to play for the title, and Sato won after a 6-4, 6-3 match. Wong later teamed up with Drayton to win the consolation round finals against the FDU Knights.
The team wrapped up its fall season with a 6-1 dual win against Seton Hall. Fordham won the first doubles match, then took five of six singles to come out on top.
The entire team was scheduled to open their season on Jan. 23 at the NJIT Invitational. However, the girls had to practice close to campus due to snowy weather. They took advantage of their next dual match against Drexel, but lost 2-5. Wins for the day included the doubles team of Sato and Drayton, as well as Wong’s 6-3 (2) second singles match.
The latest match was a 5-2 win over NJIT. Wong, Sato, Drayton and junior Destiny Grunin won their respective singles matches. The doubles matches won the day for Fordham, with first and third doubles wins by Sato/Drayton and Gruinin/Zobeideh.
When previously asked about the upcoming season, head coach Bette-Ann Liguori said, “We started our fall season, which was individual play, not playing to our potential. By the end of the season, when we played Seton Hall, they came together as a team to have a decisive 6-1 win.” She is very optimistic about the success of the upcoming spring season.
Wong is feeling positive about the upcoming season. “The team chemistry is great and we are looking forward to fighting our way to the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships in Ohio at the end of the season,” she said.
