Georgetown’s women’s tennis team (11-8, 7-2 Big East) advanced to the second round of the Big East championships yesterday after defeating Cincinnati (9-14, 6-5 Big East) in their first-round match, 4-1.
Despite early-morning showers in South Bend, Ind. that forced a postponement of the game and a cancellation of the doubles matches, the Hoyas were able to confidently dispatch the Bearcats for the second time this spring. Georgetown had beaten Cincinnati, 5-2, in regular season play on Feb. 26.
The Blue and Gray entered the tournament as the eighth seed — higher than usual for the team, which is perennially on the bubble of making the Big East tournament.
Junior Lauren Greco was the first Hoya to win, cruising to a 6-1, 6-3 victory at second singles. The Bearcats leveled the match score at one, when sophomore Caitlin O’Gara beat Georgetown sophomore by identical 6-2 set scores at sixth singles. Graduate student and captain Stephanie Wetmore was next off the court, continuing her sensational spring by defeating Cincinnati senior Ksenia Slynko 6-1, 6-3, to restore the Blue and Gray’s advantage. Sophomore Vicky Sekely then put the Hoyas on the brink of victory when she finished off a 6-1, 6-2 trouncing of Bearcat senior Lindsey Lonergan. Freshman Maddie Jaeger then won the clinching match for the Blue and Gray, easing past junior Safiyaa Ismail 6-3, 6-4, to set up a second-round date with Notre Dame.
The doubles matches were cancelled due to inclement weather in South Bend. The only singles match not to finish was at the fourth position, where freshman Tina Tehrani had lost the first set and was down, 6-5, in the second when Jaeger clinched the match.
The first-seeded Fighting Irish have been nationally ranked for much of the spring and will be a difficult match for the Hoyas. The biggest threat to the Blue and Gray comes from juniors Shannon Mathews and Kristy Frilling. Both players have been among the best in the country this season and have dominated nearly all of their opponents. The match begins today at 9 a.m.
