Georgetown women’s tennis captured back-to-back victories last weekend to extend its record to 2-1 this season. The Hoyas dominated Delaware State in front of a home crowd and followed that victory with a 7-0 sweep against St. Francis College Brooklyn.
Assistant Coach Diana Kussainova, who is in her first season with the Hoyas, said she was proud of Georgetown’s (2-1) performance.
“We’ve been putting in the work day in and day out since the start of the fall semester,” Kussainova told The Hoya. “I believe that work is paying off, as this is one of the first weekends in recent history where the program has had back-to-back winning sweeps on all six courts. Every single player out there is a competitor and they love to fight for the big moments.”
First-year Naomi Katz attributed Georgetown’s solid play to the consistency drills and doubles strategy review the team has been doing in practice.
Against the Delaware State Hornets (1-1-1), the Hoyas had the rare opportunity to play the Jan. 27 match in front of a home crowd at Yates Field House for the first time since before the pandemic began. Friends, family and the men’s tennis team attended to cheer on the team. The Hoyas will not play at Yates again this season, but the team will have six more home outdoor matches at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School’s outdoor courts.
Junior Avantika Willy said she enjoyed having her friends and family on the sidelines.
“Playing at Yates was definitely my favorite atmosphere to play in,” Willy told The Hoya.
Kussainova said she hopes the team can capitalize off of home advantages.
“It’s a different type of atmosphere playing at home versus away, and we hope to build and continue to expand on that all season long,” Kussainova said.
The Hoyas energized the crowd with three doubles wins to start off the match. At second doubles, senior Olivia Ashton and junior Morgan Coburn made a statement with a 6-0 win. Carrying its momentum into the singles, Georgetown steamrolled to win six straight-set matches to secure the home sweep.
The Hoyas traveled to Annapolis, Md., where they faced St. Francis Brooklyn (0-3) on Jan. 28. After capturing the doubles point, Georgetown wasted little time in singles with six more victories. Willy, alongside first-years Paige Gilbert and Ashley Kennedy, only lost 5 of their 41 combined games. The entire weekend, Willy and Kennedy only lost four and three games, respectively. Senior Chloe Bendetti showed her grit at second singles, pulling out two close matches with a 7-5, 6-4 win against Delaware State and a 7-6(3), 6-4 win over St. Francis Brooklyn.
Georgetown’s victory over St. Francis Brooklyn was an excellent opportunity for the team to learn how to close out matches, according to Head Coach Freddy Mesmer.
“Our doubles is improving, but I was really impressed with the singles play across the board,” Mesmer told The Hoya. “On all six courts, the team was able to dominate start to finish. In tennis, it’s easy to let your foot off the gas and let others back in the match, but this weekend was a great chance for our team to keep the foot down and get to the finish line.”
Up next, the Hoyas will travel to North Carolina for a pair of matches against East Carolina University (ECU) (2-2) on Feb. 4 and No. 4 Duke University (5-0) on Feb. 5.
Coburn said she is looking forward to the tough matchups.
“We had a gritty match against ECU last year, and I’m excited to do it again,” Coburn told The Hoya. “I’m really pumped for the opportunity to play a top-5-ranked team in Duke. We’ve been competing and practicing hard, so I know we are all up for the challenge. It should be a fun and exciting weekend down in North Carolina.”
