University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Villanova
Huskies Advance at BIG EAST Championship
4/21/2022 1:44:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CAYCE, S.C. - The UConn women's tennis team advanced to the BIG EAST Championship quarterfinals thanks to a convincing 4-0 win over Villanova on Friday at the Cayce Tennis & Fitness Center. The Huskies, the No. 9 seed, advance out of the first round and improve to 10-11 overall on the season. The No. 8 seed Villanova sees their season end with the loss.
"What a great win for the team today," commented Director of Tennis Glenn Marshall. "We had tough loss to Villanova just over a week ago, and to get this convincing win today was extremely satisfying. The team was so excited to have an opportunity for this rematch, and every single player raised their game and focus today. The doubles set the tone of the match, with us winning at number 2 and 3 to clinch the point. Our No. 1 doubles was up 5-3 at the time of the clinch as well."
The Huskies were led in doubles at No. 2 by sophomore Aleksandra Karamyshev (Ashton, Md.) and freshman Isabel Petri Bere (Lund, Sweden) who posted their team-leading 16th win of the season by beating Sabina Grigorian and Valieriia Kornieva, 6-1. UConn's junior tandem of Caroline Cook (Naples, Fla.) Denise Lai (Setauket, N.Y.) clinched the doubles point with 6-4 win over Caitlin Fisher and Bella Steffan.
"Heading into singles we wanted to have great starts in our first sets, and we won 4 of the 6 singles first sets to set the tone," stated Marshall. "We never looked back after that, with Aleksandra, Leonie, and Selen finishing out the next three team points to earn us the win 4-0. In addition, Julieanne had just split sets at number one singles and was gaining huge momentum. Also, Caroline and Isabel were playing tough and both were ready for a big moment if the match was extended."
Karamyshev was a double winner on Friday after a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over Emma Brogan, to make it 2-0 UConn and win her 19th singles match of the season. Classmate Leonie Hoppe (Munich, Germany) made it 3-0 UConn in the match with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 3 over Fisher, matching Karamyshev with her 19th win as well.
The match was clinched at No. 6 where junior Doga Selen Takunyaci (Istanbul, Turkey) won her match with Amanda Rivera-Gonzalez, 7-5 and 6-4.
"I am very proud of the entire teams effort today. They were ready to go from the start, and that look in their eyes when we won the match was awesome!"
UConn moves on to the quarterfinals on Friday and will face the No. 1 seeded St. John's Red Storm at 12:45 pm.
Players Mentioned
