The women’s tennis team began its spring season this weekend by competing in the VCU 4+1 tournament held in Richmond, Va., but was met with limited success. The Hoyas played both of their tournament matches on Friday, falling, 3-2, to host Virginia Commonwealth and then sustaining a 4-1 loss to Campbell University to round out the day.
The “4+1” denotes the format used for the tournament — four singles matches and one doubles.
“The 4+1 is a fabulous format. It allows you to move different players into different positions,” Head Coach Gordie Ernst said. “It’s a great way to get our feet wet.”
Freshman Madeline Jaeger and senior Alex Sebia fell in doubles to VCU, the 31st-ranked team in the nation, but graduate student Stephanie Wetmore and freshman Tina Tehrani responded with wins at first and fourth singles, respectively. Wetmore won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and Tehrani fought off an early first set deficit to come back for the 7-6(7-3), 3-6, 6-4 win. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, junior Lauren Greco lost a close three-set match at second singles and sophomore Victoria Sekely fell at third singles.
“In tennis, when you’re a captain and you win, you get even more respect. Stephanie did this right out of the gate. She brings incredible experience,” Coach Ernst said. “Lauren Greco has a taste of it as well. She lost, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”
After suffering a leg injury in the fall, Tehrani’s match was her first ever at the collegiate level.
“It was a great experience. [Playing and cheering with the team] was like a big family in a way,” Tehrani said. “I knew I would gain experience from either a win or a loss, so I went out there with the ‘nothing to lose’ mentality.”
For the second match of the day against Campbell, Ernst switched up the lineup. Captains Greco and Wetmore dominated in doubles, sweeping their opponents in a 6-0, 6-0 win. Sekely, freshman Jaeger, senior Sebia and sophomore Samantha Martin rounded out the singles lineup for the Blue and Gray. Jaegar and Martin both dropped their first set and won the second, but each fell short in the third set. Sekely and Sebia lost their matches as well.
“I think we can get a little tougher in the beginning of the match. We tend to wait and see how our opponent is rather than come out firing,” Ernst said. “We can also continue to work on our doubles. Doubles is humongous [in college tennis].”
Despite the losses this weekend, Ernst is still happy about where his team is at right now and is optimistic going into Big East play.
“I think this is one of the best teams that Georgetown has ever had. The question is if we can stay healthy and take it to the Big East,” Ernst said. “We’re going to be right in the mix.”
The Hoyas open conference play at Syracuse on Sunday.
