Women's tennis sweeps 7-0 against Towson

The University of Richmond women’s tennis team had a strong 7-0 victory at Towson University on Feb. 2, moving to a 2-1 record for the season. 

The Spiders came into the match off of a win against Navy and continued to stay strong. 

Doubles pair senior Claire Le Du and sophomore Lainey O’Neil dominated court three, winning 6-1. The other doubles matches were also wins for the Spiders with junior Lara Bakhaya and graduate Andrea Campodonico winning 6-3 on court one and first-year Sofia Barbulescu and junior Elizabeth Novak winning their 7-6 (6-0) fight on court two.

Singles were also a sweep for the spiders. The standout singles match was Barbulescu on court one with a 6-1, 7-6 win that ended with a tiebreaker against the tigers.

On court two, Campodonico had another competitive match with a score of 6-3, 7-5. The match almost went to a tiebreaker but Campodonico pulled through in a close second set.  

First-year Abby Lee had a solid match in court three with a 6-3, 6-0 win. Novak continued the power on court four winning 6-3, 6-3. Le Du was consistent, winning on court five with a final score of 6-2, 6-2. Finally, O’Neil finished it off with a 6-1, 6-3 victory.

Senior player Claire Le Du said that playing an away match adds new challenges. 

“There’s a lot of factors to take in… you have to not lose energy, it's very different but you have to be consistent in what you do,” Le Du said post-match. 

After the match, Head Coach Jacob Dunbar said that big, high pressure moments were difficult for the team. 

“It's early in the season, so some of the match toughness is not quite there, ” Dunbar said. 

The Spiders will be back in action on Feb. 16 against Virginia Tech in another away match. Le Du said that the team had a strong “mental toughness” in this match that they want to keep for the rest of the season. The Spiders have a losing streak of four against Virginia Tech that they are hoping to break on Feb.16. 

Contact sports writer Claire Mitchell at claire.mitchell@richmond.edu.