University of Delaware Athletics
Blue Hens Look To Continue Record-Breaking Season at 2022 CAA Championship
4/28/2022 9:55:00 AM | Women's Tennis
NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware women's tennis team is gearing up for the 2022 CAA Championship that will begin on Friday at Elon's Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Blue Hens earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament, tied for the highest seeding in program history, and will take on No. 6 Drexel in the quarterfinals.
The Blue & Gold enter the postseason after one of the most successful seasons in program history. The squad set a record with 18 wins in dual matches this season, putting together an 18-5 record that included three different winning streaks of four or more matches. Following a five-match winning streak in February, that included a road victory at Rutgers, UD entered the ITA rankings for the first time since 2013 and remained in the top-75 for a couple of weeks.
"Without a doubt, our culture is a huge factor in the success we have had so far," said Director of Tennis Pablo Montana. "These women genuinely care for one another and they believe in what we are doing and what we are trying to accomplish. Our captains and seniors on this team have done a phenomenal job setting the example and being tremendous role models for our younger players."
The Blue Hens have had 13 matches where their opponents registered just one point or fewer, including eight clean sweeps. A large part of that success has been the team's dominance in singles play where they have set the program record for victories with 121. Five different players have won at least 16 matches on the season, showing amazing consistency up and down the lineup as the squad has at least a .682 winning percentage at five of the six singles positions.
"I have all the confidence in the world in these young ladies and I know that whoever is playing in whichever position that they are going to compete and give it everything they have," said Montana. "I truly believe our lineup can win against any team in our conference."
While the singles play has been nothing short of dominant, the team's performance in doubles has been just as remarkable. In UD's 23 dual matches, the squad has won nearly 75-percent of its doubles matches with a 47-16 record. In a situation where you need to win two out of three matches to earn the point, Montana feels very comfortable as the Blue Hens have won more than 80-percent of their matches at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, while also posting a respected 11-8 record at No. 1.
"We spend a lot of time working on our doubles, probably more than most teams do. I'm a big believer that when you understand good doubles fundamentals, you also improve your singles IQ as well. The chemistry with our teams has been fantastic and a lot of this is driven by our values. Each one of our doubles teams has a veteran on them and they have done a great job leading by example."
Montana has a strong blend of veteran leaders and newcomers throughout the lineup that he can lean on. However, it has been the play of four first-year members of the program that provided a spark. Freshmen Alina Vasilenko and Maria Constantinou joined the Blue Hens at the beginning of the semester and have been nearly perfect since they arrived. Vasilenko won her first 15 collegiate matches and is 18-1 across the top three singles positions while Constantinou has joined the lineup over the past few weeks and has gone 9-0. Graduate student Dominika Sujova is third on the team with 19 singles wins and has won her past five matches in the middle of the lineup.
Freshman Samantha Svendsen has been a strong force in doubles play as she has registered 18 wins with four different partners, including a 14-4 mark in dual matches. Montana paired Sujova and Vasilenko together in mid-February and the duo has become one of the more formidable duos in the conference with a 17-1 record, including an 8-1 mark at the No. 1 position.
"No question that Samantha, Domi, Alina, and Maria have all added amazing depth to our lineup. They have learned this spring to develop a growth mindset and to welcome and embrace our challenges and obstacles. They understand that every match we play is an opportunity to grow and learn. Combine this with our veteran experience and this makes us a dangerous team in the playoffs."
Delaware's 18 wins this season are not only a program record, but are also tied for the most in the CAA with top-seeded Charleston. The Blue Hens played five matches against conference opponents, going 3-2 in those matches. While they cruised to easy wins over Hofstra (7-0), Drexel (6-1) and Towson (7-0), they suffered tight, 4-3 setbacks to the top two seeds in this week's Championship – Charleston and William & Mary.
"We believe with all our hearts we can win this. We've done some great things so far this spring but we are continuing to treat every match like it's the only match. We stay in the present and only focus on the team in front of us with one match at a time."
For the latest on the Delaware women's tennis program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @DelawareWTEN and Instagram @Delawarewtennis.
The Blue & Gold enter the postseason after one of the most successful seasons in program history. The squad set a record with 18 wins in dual matches this season, putting together an 18-5 record that included three different winning streaks of four or more matches. Following a five-match winning streak in February, that included a road victory at Rutgers, UD entered the ITA rankings for the first time since 2013 and remained in the top-75 for a couple of weeks.
"Without a doubt, our culture is a huge factor in the success we have had so far," said Director of Tennis Pablo Montana. "These women genuinely care for one another and they believe in what we are doing and what we are trying to accomplish. Our captains and seniors on this team have done a phenomenal job setting the example and being tremendous role models for our younger players."
The Blue Hens have had 13 matches where their opponents registered just one point or fewer, including eight clean sweeps. A large part of that success has been the team's dominance in singles play where they have set the program record for victories with 121. Five different players have won at least 16 matches on the season, showing amazing consistency up and down the lineup as the squad has at least a .682 winning percentage at five of the six singles positions.
"I have all the confidence in the world in these young ladies and I know that whoever is playing in whichever position that they are going to compete and give it everything they have," said Montana. "I truly believe our lineup can win against any team in our conference."
While the singles play has been nothing short of dominant, the team's performance in doubles has been just as remarkable. In UD's 23 dual matches, the squad has won nearly 75-percent of its doubles matches with a 47-16 record. In a situation where you need to win two out of three matches to earn the point, Montana feels very comfortable as the Blue Hens have won more than 80-percent of their matches at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, while also posting a respected 11-8 record at No. 1.
"We spend a lot of time working on our doubles, probably more than most teams do. I'm a big believer that when you understand good doubles fundamentals, you also improve your singles IQ as well. The chemistry with our teams has been fantastic and a lot of this is driven by our values. Each one of our doubles teams has a veteran on them and they have done a great job leading by example."
Montana has a strong blend of veteran leaders and newcomers throughout the lineup that he can lean on. However, it has been the play of four first-year members of the program that provided a spark. Freshmen Alina Vasilenko and Maria Constantinou joined the Blue Hens at the beginning of the semester and have been nearly perfect since they arrived. Vasilenko won her first 15 collegiate matches and is 18-1 across the top three singles positions while Constantinou has joined the lineup over the past few weeks and has gone 9-0. Graduate student Dominika Sujova is third on the team with 19 singles wins and has won her past five matches in the middle of the lineup.
Freshman Samantha Svendsen has been a strong force in doubles play as she has registered 18 wins with four different partners, including a 14-4 mark in dual matches. Montana paired Sujova and Vasilenko together in mid-February and the duo has become one of the more formidable duos in the conference with a 17-1 record, including an 8-1 mark at the No. 1 position.
"No question that Samantha, Domi, Alina, and Maria have all added amazing depth to our lineup. They have learned this spring to develop a growth mindset and to welcome and embrace our challenges and obstacles. They understand that every match we play is an opportunity to grow and learn. Combine this with our veteran experience and this makes us a dangerous team in the playoffs."
Delaware's 18 wins this season are not only a program record, but are also tied for the most in the CAA with top-seeded Charleston. The Blue Hens played five matches against conference opponents, going 3-2 in those matches. While they cruised to easy wins over Hofstra (7-0), Drexel (6-1) and Towson (7-0), they suffered tight, 4-3 setbacks to the top two seeds in this week's Championship – Charleston and William & Mary.
"We believe with all our hearts we can win this. We've done some great things so far this spring but we are continuing to treat every match like it's the only match. We stay in the present and only focus on the team in front of us with one match at a time."
For the latest on the Delaware women's tennis program, follow the Blue Hens on Twitter @DelawareWTEN and Instagram @Delawarewtennis.
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