Temple women’s tennis wins third straight match

The Owls beat Binghamton University (4-14), 7-0, on Saturday at the Student Pavilion.

The win is the Owls’ (9-7, 2-1 American Athletic Conference) third straight shutout victory. They won the doubles point and won every singles match in straight sets.

Sophomore Kristina Titova and senior Yana Khon defeated Binghamton junior Maria Pandya and senior Allison Roma, 6-1, on the second court. Seniors Monet Stuckey-Willis and Alina Abdurakhimova lost their doubles match, 6-4, in the top flight against Bearcats junior Tiffany Dun and senior Olga Ostrovetsky.

In singles, senior Yana Khon earned her second consecutive 6-0, 6-0 victory. Stuckey-Willis won her singles match in two sets by a score of 7-6, 6-1 against redshirt freshman Michelle Eisenberg. Coming off a loss in her doubles match earlier, Stuckey-Willis knew her mentality needed to change.

“I needed to take a step back and take it down a few notches all around,” Stuckey-Willis said. “I wasn’t really focused on my game early on, and I realized that I wasn’t playing like my normal self. So I just had to rewind and focus on playing my game, and after that everything came together.”

Stuckey-Willis settled into her singles match during the second set, in which she only lost one game. She said it is important for her to play at her highest level as the end of her final season approaches.

Assistant coach Frederika Girsang said Stuckey-Willis has matured during her career.

“You can see it every day she comes out and works so hard, always trying to improve, and her performance today really showed how well she is able to handle herself when she gets down in matches,” Girsang said.

Seniors accounted for four of Temple’s six singles wins. Abdurakhimova won, 6-4, 6-4, against Bearcats sophomore Samara Eisenberg in the top flight. Senior Rimpledeep Kaur won 6-1, 6-4, against Ostrovetsky in the third singles match.

Titova and junior Alice Patch earned the other two singles wins. Titova defeated Roma 6-1, 6-0, and Patch defeated Binghamton senior Paulina Tafler, 6-1, 6-1.

Girsang said Saturday’s win was an example of how the team increases its energy late in matches.

“We start off slow in matches sometimes, but I have a lot of confidence in our seniors as well as our other players to continue to step up and provide energy in big situations,” Girsang said.

“Everyone is contributing, and that is what makes the difference,” she added. “Whether it is one through six or it is people who aren’t even playing, you can sense that this team uses their energy to their advantage in matches.”