In January, the women’s tennis team opened their regular season with a pair of losses to Penn and Princeton. A week later, the Owls (12-4) picked up a 7-0 win against Binghamton.
That victory initiated a winning streak that lasted 11 matches through to the end of March. The run was blown at the end of the month with a loss at Penn State.
April has not been as kind to the Owls. They began the month with a 4-5 loss to Atlantic Ten Conference rival Massachusetts. And their game against George Washington the next day was cancelled.
The A-10 Championship begins Friday and the Owls have only played two matches this month.
The Owls finished second in the A-10 last year, losing 4-0 to Richmond in the championship match. The Owls, who finished 2007 with a 16-4 record, were the top seeded team in the tournament.
This year, the team was slated to finish third in a field of 14 according to the conference’s preseason coaches poll. Richmond was picked to finish first, with Charlotte right behind. The Owls beat Richmond, 4-3, earlier this season.
The Owls’ roster is nine-deep, with four freshmen, three sophomores and two juniors. More than half of the team has experience playing in last year’s A-10 tournament matches.
Junior Dina Senkina was named the OwlSports.com Athlete of the Month in February. She was also named the A-10 Player of the Week on Feb. 16.
She won 14 consecutive matches and led her team to victory against Richmond in February. Her play also helped the Owls to string the 11-game winning streak.
Senkina played in the A-10 Championship last season and will look to help her team play in and win that match this year.
The tournament starts Friday at the Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. The championship matches will take place on Sunday.
Melissa DiPento can be reached at mdipento@temple.edu.
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