UConn women’s tennis faces off against Wesleyan, Bryant, Stony Brook, Army, and Sacred Heart at the UConn Invite from September 15 – September 17 2023. Photo by Zach Moller/The Daily Campus
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After a resounding 7-0 victory last weekend against Merrimack, the UConn women’s tennis team has the opportunity to keep their hot start going. On Wednesday, the Huskies will welcome the Fairfield Stags to Magic Lincer Tennis Academy in Manchester, Connecticut in what has historically been a very favorable matchup for UConn.
Matchup History
UConn and Fairfield are no strangers to each other on the court as they’ve matched up eight total times since the 2009-2010 season. The Huskies have come out victorious in all eight of those meetings, outscoring Fairfield 48-7 in terms of individual singles and doubles matches. Most recently, the Stags traveled to Manchester in early February 2023. That match finished 6-1 in UConn’s favor thanks to some great performances by sophomore Cameron Didion and juniors Isabel Petri Bere and Olivia Wright. All three won their singles matches in straight sets en route to an undefeated overall singles performance.
What to Expect
UConn is returning all their key players from the fall season, including junior Maria Constantinou who is coming off a 6-3, 6-1 victory last week against senior Nikala Tuffanelli of Merrimack. Last season, Constantinou opened play with six straight singles wins and is now 1-0 to start the off the spring. She also added a 6-1 doubles victory as she paired with senior Nansi Toskova to take down senior Raya Parker Johnson and sophomore Jordan Phillips. Wright is coming off a 10-7 overall singles record playing at the first singles position and won her first match in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) last week. With all the Huskies starting off in great form, a ninth straight victory against Fairfield is looking like a strong possibility.
Players to Watch
While Constantinou and Wright bring skill and experience, two freshmen, Victoria Matos (10-6 overall singles record) and Caroline Hinshaw (10-5 overall singles record), burst onto the scene in the fall. They came up with some big wins when the more experienced players were struggling and contributed to the Merrimack victory by each winning a singles and doubles match. They can take their games to the next level in the spring and will be the ones to watch on Wednesday. Petri Bere also showed some big improvements from her sophomore season and led the way in singles play, finishing with a team best 12-4 record in the fall.
For Fairfield, graduate student Francesca Karman and sophomore Sarah Liu both made the All-MAAC Doubles First Team last year and will be back again for the Stags. Liu also had the second-most overall singles wins for Fairfield in the fall with 11, finishing behind only Lize-Alet Morkel who has since graduated. She also finished with an impressive 10-2 doubles record when partnered up with now-graduated Paulina Bakaite. While Liu and Karman’s returns will be a big boost for Fairfield, losing Morkel and Bakaite means there’s 48 overall singles and doubles wins that’ll be missing. Sophomore Meg Harding has a chance to make up for some of those wins, as she’s currently tied with Liu for the lead in singles wins early on in the season.
The match between the Huskies and Stags will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 1:00 p.m.