Over the course of the three-day, 18-team Army Invitational, the Binghamton women’s tennis team picked up seven total wins in what was a solid effort in the team’s second competition of the season.
In singles, senior Samara Eisenberg won 6-0, 6-4 against Fordham’s freshman Rachelle Yang before losing in the following round in the “B” bracket. Junior Ashley Granieri won her opening match over Marist senior Jada Tijani before a tough, three-set loss in the round of 16. Sophomore Regina Furer also won her opening singles match, and freshman Julia Gumieniak reached the consolation semifinals in the “E” bracket.
“We’re still losing tough matches and tiebreakers — we need to work on playing important points better,” said Binghamton head coach Libby McGovern. “We need to make sure we’re playing to our strengths and finding our opponents’ weaknesses, and also get back into the flow of competition.”
In doubles, the Eisenberg sisters, Samara Eisenberg and junior Michelle Eisenberg, defeated opponents from Quinnipiac in their opening match in the “A” class before losing to freshman Avery Aude and sophomore Valeriya Deminova of Fordham in the second round. Freshman Jamie Lau and Granieri, however, won in the opening match of the “C” class.
McGovern seemed pleased with the group effort in the doubles matches and winning the opening matches, but seemed to think that they need to push harder and get through to later rounds.
Throughout Binghamton’s opening events, several players have put forth strong individual performances. McGovern noted the performances of two freshman, Lau and Gumieniak, as standouts.
“Both Jamie and Julia have done a very good job — going from junior to college there’s no easy matches, you have to work hard for every point,” McGovern said. “There are definitely times where the competition is overwhelming, and it mostly gets overwhelming because there’s no breathing room. You’re in a tough match every single time you step out on the court. Junior tennis you can get some freebies. At the collegiate level, that does not happen.”
The Bearcats’ next event won’t be for another two weeks. During the team’s time off, McGovern said the team will practice a lot of match play, employing different strategies to close out pivotal moments.
“We’re going to make sure we understand the strategies we’re trying to employ,” McGovern said. “We’ll make sure we know what’s happening within our points so we know what we’re doing wrong and know what to do to be successful.”
The team’s next event is the ITA Northeast Regional hosted by Army. The event will be held from Thursday, Oct. 17 to Tuesday, Oct. 22 in West Point, New York.