After opening the season on the road at the Mary Hosking Invitational hosted by Hobart and William Smith Colleges last week, UR’s women’s tennis team kicked off their home schedule with a dominant 9-0 win over Nazareth College on Thursday, Sept. 13. After sweeping the three doubles matches, with a tight 9-7 victory at the second position, the ’Jackets excelled through all six singles positions, winning straight sets in every match.
Coach Matt Nielsen was pleased with the results.
“I thought the team competed very well in our first dual match of the season,” he said.
Perhaps the brightest spot of a big day for the team was the impressive performance of freshman Molly Goodman, who also made her debut in a college doubles match.
After an 8-1 rout at third doubles by teammates senior Hayley Brower and junior Janice Zhao, along with a solid 8-2 win at the first position by senior Francis Tseng and sophomore Cara Genbauffe, all eyes focused on court two at the Peter Lyman Tennis Center, where Goodman and sophomore Rachel Suresky were in the midst of a battle with Nazareth College’s Cara Yinger and Christine Cary.
Despite facing two match points, the newly-formed ’Jackets doubles team prevailed in dramatic fashion, clinching the match and the doubles sweep for UR.
“Molly and Rachel displayed great resolve,” Nielsen said of the performance.
In singles action, Suresky and Brower both easily won 6-1, 6-1, at positions three and six, respectively. Brower “played great tennis,” as Nielsen put it. At the top of the lineup, UR’s first singles player, Tseng, displayed grit in winning the second set tiebreak 10-8 after a quick 6-0 first set.
Genbauffe won routinely, 6-3, 6-2 at second singles, while Zhao also picked up her second win of the day with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at the fifth position. At fourth singles, it was Goodman again who showed why she has the chance to be a big part of UR women’s tennis for the next few years, taking her match 7-5, 6-1.
“After winning a tough first set, she made a few key adjustments and dominated the second,” a very impressed Nielsen explained.
The win seemed to boost confidence for the team, which was clearly quite pleased to run the table and sweep their cross-city foes. Nielsen and his team will look to continue their strong early season play on Thursday, Sept. 20, as they travel to SUNY Geneseo to take on the Blue Knights, a team they defeated 6-3 last year.
Shapiro is a member of the class of 2016.
