Courtesy of UR Athletics
Back in action for the first time in two weeks, UR women’s tennis team traveled downstate for a pair of matchups last weekend, taking on the New York University Violets on Saturday, April 6 and the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology the following day on Sunday, April 7. The ’Jackets trip proved to be a successful one, with the team coming away with victories in both matches to extend their current winning streak to four.
Starting off the weekend against NYU, Rochester struggling out of the gate, dropping second and third doubles to the Violets, each by a score of 8-6. The first doubles pairing of senior captain Francis Tsengand sophomore Cara Genbauffe kept the ‘Jackets within striking distance, however, topping their opponents 8-5. Despite the win, it would take at least four singles victories for the visitors to come back and win the match. Fortunately for Coach Matt Nielsen’s squad, the team was up to the challenge.
At first singles, Tseng cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win, knotting the match up at two points and taking a bit of pressure off of her teammates. Soon after, though, NYU grabbed their third point of the day, with sophomore Rachel Suresky falling at second singles 6-1, 7-5 to Alison Wang.
This would end up being all the home team could muster, as the ‘Jackets elevated their level of play enough to win the bottom four positions. Genbauffe, freshman Christine Ho, and junior Janice Zhao won in straight sets at positions three, four, and six, respectively, while freshman Molly Goodman gritted out a match tiebreak at fourth singles, winning by a final score of 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 to notch Rochester’s sixth point of the day.
Less than twenty-four hours after their triumph over conference rival NYU, the ‘Jackets crossed the Hudson River to take on Stevens Tech in Hoboken, NJ. Despite playing outdoors for the first time since their trip to California a month ago, Rochester cruised to an 8-1 win in their second victory over Stevens Tech this season.
The match started off a clean doubles sweep for the visitors, as Tseng and Genbauffe, Ho and Goodman, and Suresky and senior Haley Brower took care of business up and down the lineup. Singles play was more of the same for Rochester, with the only hiccup coming at first singles, where Tseng dropped a tight match to Jessica Bourque 7-5, 6-4. At positions two through six, however, the ’Jackets did not drop a set, with Ho and Zhao going as far as to not lose a game, both winning 6-0, 6-0 at positions four and six, respectively.
The win brings the 15th ranked Yellow Jackets to 8-4 in the season, a record that the team will look to improve upon as they face a series of tough matches, starting with crosstown rival RIT on Thursday, April 11th. Following that matchup, St. Lawrence University will travel to Rochester for a meeting on Saturday, April 13 in what will be the second to last home match of the season for UR. With only two weeks until the UAA Conference tournament, the ‘Jackets will surely be looking to continue their solid form of late and build as much momentum as possible to end the season on a high note.
Shapiro is a member of the class of 2016.
