Both Georgetown University tennis teams competed last week in the penultimate week of regular season play before they head into the Big East Tournament. The women’s team pulled out a tight victory, while the men’s team dropped two matches.
The women’s team (6-8, 3-2 Big East) scraped by with a 4-3 win over the University of Connecticut Huskies (10-7, 4-3 Big East) on April 2 in College Park, Md., while the men’s team (5-14, 2-3 Big East) fell to two tough conference foes, losing to St. John’s University (14-5, 4-0 Big East) on April 1 in College Park, Md., and DePaul University (7-12, 4-0 Big East) on April 3 in Annapolis, Md.
Against UConn, things got tense immediately for Georgetown after their No. 1 doubles pair, senior duo Paige Gilbert and Ashley Kennedy, lost their set 6-3. First-years Julia Chu and Ruhika Bhat brought the Hoyas even with a 6-3 win of their own at No. 2 before juniors Emily Novikov and Katie Garofolo-Ro brought the doubles point home with a 6-4 win at No. 3.
Two of Georgetown’s Big East wins for the women’s team have started with claiming the doubles point. Head Coach Freddy Mesmer said that in tight matches, doubles wins are crucial for generating energy into singles play and determining the match’s final score.
“We’ve started to play some really good doubles, so I’m glad that the result finally came,” Mesmer wrote to The Hoya. “I think winning the doubles point definitely carries some momentum into singles, but against any of these tough teams, it’s usually going to be the deciding factor in the overall match score.”
Bhat dominated 6-2, 6-0 at No. 5 in singles play to put the Hoyas up 2-0. Bhat was one of two Hoyas to win in both singles and doubles and is now 9-3 in singles this season.
Mesmer said Bhat’s coachability has contributed to her success this season.
“I think in our program, a lot of the freshmen have had success straight away, but Ruhika is definitely a special player,” Mesmer wrote. “She’s extremely coachable, and I think that is what has led to a lot of her success so far this season.”
Gilbert also rolled at No. 6, winning 6-1, 6-0 to put the Hoyas on the brink of victory. Things got tight, however, as Kennedy fell 6-2, 6-1 on court 4, and Chu dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision at No. 2, giving UConn life. Suddenly, the match hung on two close battles at No. 1 and No. 3, and after Georgetown’s prior loss to the University of Richmond (7-9), when the Hoyas let a 3-2 lead slip, they ran the risk of choking twice in as many weeks.
The Hoyas’ angst was short-lived. Garofolo-Ro, fresh off earning Big East player of the week for her trifecta of singles wins the previous week, delivered another resilient singles performance, pulling through 7-5, 6-4 to clinch the match for the Hoyas. Novikov fell in three sets, 1-6, 6-4 and 6-3, at No. 1, but it was too little too late for the Huskies.
After beating the Huskies, the Hoyas have now won three of their last four matches, including 7-0 victories over Saint Joseph’s University (4-17) and Seton Hall University (5-14), as the regular season winds down.
In contrast to the women’s team, the men’s team dropped the doubles point in both of their losses last week. Senior Arthur O’Sullivan and first-year Cyrus Zia, beating DePaul’s No. 1 duo 6-3.
Mesmer said doubles will be a priority for the men’s team going into the Big East Tournament next week.
“I think our biggest thing to improve on is starting out the doubles a little bit faster. In the St. John’s match, we let them get out in front way too early, which is troublesome in doubles because it’s such a short set,” Mesmer wrote. “As we head into the Big East Tournament next week, a huge focus for our team will be on the doubles.”
The team’s singles play was slightly better, but not by much, as Georgetown lost by a combined score of 3-9 in singles across the two matches. Sophomore James O’Sullivan was the sole winner in the St. John’s match, picking up a nailbiting win in a tiebreak at No. 2, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (12-10).
Against DePaul two days later, the Hoyas doubled their singles win tally. First-year Jonah Hill prevailed 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 at No. 4, while sophomore Jacob Mann returned to the lineup with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-1 victory at No. 6 after not playing in Wednesday’s match.
Both teams will play April 10. The men’s team will face Mount St. Mary’s University (6-9) and the women’s team will face George Mason University (7-7), before they play the Villanova University men’s (5-14, 0-3 Big East) and women’s (10-8, 1-2 Big East) teams April 11. The Villanova matches will be each team’s last before they travel to Cayce, S.C., for the Big East tournaments, which begin April 16.
Mesmer said he is looking forward to the Villanova matches, especially because of how the teams match each other’s energy when they play together.
“It’s always great to have both teams competing simultaneously! The energy is unmatched,” Mesmer wrote to The Hoya. “I think both teams do a great job of feeding off of each other, and I’m hoping they can find some of that magic again this weekend to send our seniors out on a high note!”
