Owls go 2-1 on trip to Virginia

The Owls won matches against Morgan State University and Longwood University at Saturday’s Virginia Commonwealth University Invite in Richmond, Virginia.

The women’s tennis team’s trip to Richmond, Virginia for the Virginia Commonwealth University Invite this weekend yielded mixed results with two wins and a loss.

The Owls started the weekend with a 5-0 win against Morgan State University on Saturday.  After losing 6-1 to Old Dominion University in their last trip to Virginia, the Owls performed much better in the state, winning all five matches while losing only two sets.

Sunday got off to a tough start for the Owls as they lost 3-2 to tournament host Virginia Commonwealth.  The Rams took two of the first three matches with a 6-4, 6-1 win in doubles and a 6-4, 6-2 win from Virginia Commonwealth freshman Janina Braun against Owls junior Monet Stuckey-Willis.  Despite a 6-4, 6-4 singles win from senior Dina Karina and a comeback 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 singles win from junior Alina Abdurakhimova, the Owls could not overcome their early 2-0 deficit.  

The Owls finished the weekend on a high note with a 5-0 win against Longwood University.  Abdurakhimova completed her 3-0 weekend with a 2-6, 6-4, 10-7 singles win after a marathon third set.  Her first set turned out to be the only set the Owls dropped against Longwood.

Graduate transfer Galina Chernykh did not play in the tournament due to a foot injury that has been troubling her for more than two weeks.  Coach Steve Mauro hoped Chernykh would be back on Friday against Iowa State University, but after missing out on Friday, she was also ruled out for the rest of the weekend.   

The Owls will be back in action on Friday at 7:30 a.m. against Villanova at the Hamlin Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at daniel.fitzpatrick@temple.edu or on Twitter @The_Jersey_Fitz. Follow The Temple News on Twitter @TheTempleNews and @TTN_Sports.

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