From Oct. 22nd through Oct. 26th the women’s tennis team competed in the ITA Northeast Regional Cham­pionship, hosted by Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H. Over 35 teams compete in the tournament, including all of the Ivy League. In this tournament, all the varsity tennis teams in the Northeast qualify a certain amount of players based on their performance in the fall.  The Red sent three players to compete in the singles bracket and three in the doubles portion.

“We got six players which was great,” said sophomore Christine Ordway.

Senior Sinziana Chis, one of the team’s captains, elaborated on this and shared her teammate’s enthusiasm. 

“Based on tournaments in the fall, the top players qualify for regionals. We sent three singles teams and three doubles teams — the best we’ve sent in a couple of years, so that’s awesome,” Chis said.

For singles, Ordway had a bye in the first round. She beat Manuela Marin of St. Bonaventure in two sets, 6-0, 6-2. She then defeated Bianca Sanon of Columbia, 7-6(4), 6-1. In the round of 16, Ordway lost to Erina Kikuchi of Boston College, 6-2, 6-3.

Chis was defeated in the first round by Dartmouth’s Sabrina Stewart, 6-0, 6-2. Freshman Ryann Young beat Stony Brook’s Prerana Appineni 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. She then lost to Princeton’s Monica Chow, 6-0, 6-2. 

On the doubles side, freshman Shannon Comolli and freshman Kelly Comolli defeated Jessica Linero and Amelia Martinez of Boston University, 8-5.

Chis and sophomore Geraldine Leong also won their first match, against Army’s Jamila Paul and Della Taylor, 8-3. Ordway and Young lost to Monica Chow and Rachel Saiontz of Princeton, 8-3. 

In the round of 32, the Comolli sisters beat Dartmouth’s Christina Danosi and Jeri Reichel, 8-5. Alexa Ely and Connie Hsu of Penn beat Chis and Leong, 8-0. But the Comolli twins trudged on, beating Yale’s Elizabeth Epstein and Blair Seideman, 8-5 and then losing in the quarterfinals to Hilary Bartlett and Taylor Marale from Princeton, 8-4. 

Head coach Mike Stevens added a few comments on Ordway’s performance in the tournament. 

“Chrstine had a very good tournament. She was seeded 17th and did very well. She won two rounds in the singles — after having a bye in the first round. She did very well, which was great to see,” Stevens said.

“My first match was against a girl that was last string, I kind of knew what to expect,” Ordway said. “I won that match pretty solidly. Then, I played a freshman from Columbia; she was pretty solid and got a lot of balls back. My last match was against a girl from BC that I lost to, she was very good and came out strong.” 

Ordway also took a few positives from her defeat in the doubles portion of the competition.

“Me and Ryann played the No. 2 team from Princeton last year. They were pretty tough so we lost, but I thought we played pretty well. I thought they just did a little better that day so it was tough but it was a good match,” she said. 

The Comolli sisters went the farthest for the Red in this tournament. As one of the team’s captains, Chis was enthusiastic about the success of her younger teammates. 

“They actually made the round of eight, which is awesome, especially for freshmen,” Chis said.

Stevens was also impressed by the young duo’s execution. 

“Shannon and Kelly were seeded in the doubles tournament and did very well also. They made it all the way to the quarterfinals, beating lots of teams on the way, which was good as well,” he said. 

The young showing is a promising sign for the future. 

“It was really nice that we had three freshmen and two sophomores that qualified. They are playing really well, really young, so that’s awesome. … The team did well. Overall, best we’ve done in a few years,” Chis said.

But Chis realized that this tournament is not just about seeing how well the team has done so far this fall. It has implications for the future as well. 

“There’s always room for improvement but we did really well in this tournament. It’s good to check out the competition for next year to see what you’re up against,” she said.

“We’re feeling really confident [about the spring]. We’ve been training really hard, working hard and I think it’s going to show in the spring. I think we’re going to have one of the best records we’ve had in a couple of years,” Chis said. 

So what’s next for the Red? 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re definitely looking forward to it. We have one more tournament at Harvard. We’re trying to get ready for that. We have a lot of work and training to do, that’s what were trying to do this fall,” Stevens said.

Stevens also recognizes that the end of the fall season is just the beginning, as they have the spring season to prepare for as well. 

“In order to be in the Ivy League, you have to play well, you have to work hard and that’s what were doing,” Stevens said. “We have a lot of work to do, but the team is working hard and they are focused on what we need to do, so that is a good thing.”