The weather was merciless for the NYU women’s tennis team this past weekend, forcing the entire Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northeast Regional Tournament to move indoors. Hosted by William Smith College in Geneva, NY, this competition was the opening intercollegiate competitive match of the season, and the inclement weather presented an unexpected fork in the road. Subsequent planning and schedule changing was required, and the format of the tournament was reduced to an eight-game pro-set format on the first play.
Despite this alteration, head coach Horace Choy still felt comfortable with his players’ chances.
“Although not ideal, the eight-game pro-set is long enough where the better player will win most of the time,” Choy said.
On the first day of competition, sophomore Mariella Tzakis, freshman Ashley Masanto and freshman Alison Wang each won their two opening singles matches, giving NYU a collective 6-0 record. It should be noted that both Masanto and Wang made their collegiate debuts this past weekend and both performed impressively.
Choy applauded Wang’s efforts in her 9-7 second round triumph over senior Karisse Bendijo from The College of New Jersey.
“Wang’s upset of Bendijo was not so surprising,” Choy said. “As a freshman, Wang may have been overlooked a little by the seeding committee. However, she was the better player that day.”
To add to their singles victories, Masanto and Wang teamed up to win their opening doubles match 9-7 against Skidmore College.
On day two, Masanto and Wang each won their third round matches in straight sets, as regular scoring was reinstated because of better weather conditions. After a handful of excellent performances, both Masanto and Wang were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the singles competition. The pair was beaten 8-2 by Vassar College in the quarterfinals of the doubles competition.
Going into the competition, the Violets were ranked 19th in the Division III recruiting class, based on the commitment of four-star recruit Ashley Masanto.
NYU women’s tennis team takes the court next weekend at the Vassar Scramble in Poughkeepsie, NY, where it hopes to build upon its successes in from the previous tournament.
A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Sept. 25 print edition. Nick Nemeroff is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].
