March 1 (Saturday) / 10:00 AM
at Rochester
In Schenectady, N.Y., the Union College women’s tennis team faced its first defeat of the 2024-25 season on Sunday morning, succumbing to ITA #34 New York University with a score of 6-1 at Sportime Schenectady.
The Violets opened the match strong, sweeping all three doubles competitions to secure the initial point. Junior Chara Meidani and sophomore Luisa Arizpe-Sierra came closest to victory in the top slot, breaking serve to level the contest at 4-4 against Isabella Hartman and Victoria Wang, before the NYU duo held serve to take a 5-4 lead, ultimately clinching the match.
Union put up a spirited effort in singles, challenging an NYU lineup featuring three players ranked among the top-40 nationally, including three positioned in the top-nine of the ITA regional ranking.
Arizpe-Sierra shone brightly for the Union squad, notching the team’s only win by battling Kendall Kamerschen in fifth-singles. After clinching the first set with a break at 5-4, she faced a setback in the second, losing 6-2. However, Arizpe-Sierra rallied in the super tiebreaker, generating four consecutive points to overturn a 2-2 tie into a commanding 6-2 lead before finishing with a 10-3 triumph.
Meidani displayed her resilience in the second singles match, recovering from a 6-1 loss in the first set to force a super tiebreak against the 36th-ranked Hartman. After rallying from a 4-5 scoreline in the second set to win three consecutive games, Meidani unfortunately fell short in the super tiebreaker, losing 10-8.
Meanwhile, seventh-ranked Jimena Menendez triumphed over junior Skylar Semon with a score of 6-0, 6-3 at the top position, while ninth-ranked Wang narrowly defeated first-year Samantha Jacobs in third-singles, 6-1, 6-4. First-year Calista Finkelstein also put forth a commendable effort in the sixth-singles match against Siona Vallabhaneni, ending with a score of 6-3, 6-4.
The Garnet Chargers will look to bounce back as they prepare for another non-conference match against the University of Rochester, scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m.
