Courtesy of UR Athletics
Despite taking the court after only a week of official practice, the UR women’s tennis team made Colgate University work hard to earn a 7-2 victory on Sunday, Feb. 10. The match, which took place on the indoor courts at the Robert B. Goergen Athletic Center, featured strong play from the ‘Jackets in both singles and doubles, particularly from senior Frances Tseng, whose strong performance on the day earned her UAA Conference women’s tennis player of the week honors.
Kicking the day off at first doubles were Tseng and her partner, sophomore Cara Genbauffe. The duo’s hard work throughout the offseason paid immediate dividend, as they cruised to an 8-3 victory, overpowering their opponents with big serves and impressive net play.
At second doubles, freshmen Molly Goodman and Christine Ho fought hard in an 8-4 loss to Colgate’s Meredith Rock and Kelsey Shea. Rounding out the doubles lineup was senior Hayley Brower and junior Janice Zhao, who fell 8-5 to Jackie Finn and Katie Grant in a match highlighted by a number of incredibly long rallies.
In singles play, the ‘Jackets fell behind early in several matches, clearly struggling to mentally rebound after Colgate took the 2-1 advantage from doubles. After the slow start however, UR made the necessary adjustments to get back in their matches.
At second singles, Genabuffe fought back after dropping the first set 6-2, going toe-to-toe with her opponent in the second set before narrowly falling 7-5. Also displaying a great deal of grit was Ho at fourth singles, who was at one point down 6-0, 5-1 and looking to be within minutes of losing. The freshman never quit though, reeling off six straight games to take the second set 7-5. In the third set, Ho’s momentum was quickly halted as she fell 6-0 to Kelsey Wanhainen, whose one year seniority over Ho clearly played a role in her victory.
Third and fifth singles, with sophomore and freshman Rachel Suresky and Molly Goodman, respectively, both had scorelines that were all too familiar for Rochester that day, with losses in the first set followed by tight second sets that would eventually go to Colgate. Suresky’s final score was 6-1, 7-5, while Goodman fell 6-1, 6-3. At sixth singles was Zhao, who competed hard in every point despite losing 6-1, 6-0. The bright spot for UR came at the top of the lineup, where Tseng continued her winning streak from a successful fall season by taking down Kelsey Shea 6-4, 6-3, a victory all too expected of the All-American champion.
After a weekend off, the ‘Jackets will turn to action on Feb. 23 against the Ithaca College Bombers.
Shapiro is a member of the class of 2016.
