Women’s Tennis Year In Review

6/14/2022 11:16:00 AM | Women's Tennis

NEWARK, Del. – The University of Delaware women’s tennis team saw its 2021-22 season come to an end in the CAA Semifinals at the end of April, but the Blue Hens put together one of the best campaigns in program history.

Historic Season in the Books
Delaware set the program record with 19 dual match victories on the season, putting together three different winning streaks with four wins or more. The Blue Hens had 14 matches where their opponents registered just one point or fewer, including eight clean sweeps. A large part of that success was the team's dominance up and down the lineup in singles play as the squad held at least a .667 winning percentage at five of the six singles positions. There was no letup in doubles play, however, as the Blue Hens won 76-percent (51-6) of their matches in dual 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.

The Blue & Gold ended the regular season with four-consecutive wins, including decisive conference victories over Drexel (6-1) and Towson (7-0). The 18-5 record in the regular season, including a 3-2 mark against conference opponents, helped UD earn the No. 3 seed at the 2022 CAA Championships, tying with the 2018 squad for the highest seeding in program history. The Blue Hens defeated No. 6 Drexel 4-1 in the quarterfinals to earn the team’s second-ever appearance in the CAA Semifinals, and the first since 2013. UD lost a heartbreaker, 4-3, to No. 2 William & Mary in the semifinals in a match that came down to the deciding third set of the final singles match.

HENS WIN!! @eliza_askarova takes down her opponent at No. 1 to clinch the No. 3 #BlueHens win in the @CAASports Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/DwcbxQN3Pa
— Delaware Women's Tennis (@DelawareWTEN) April 29, 2022

Immediate Impact
Delaware had a strong blend of veteran leaders and newcomers that were major contributors throughout the lineup. However, it was the play of four first-year members of the program that provided much of the spark.

In her first year with the Blue & Gold, graduate student Dominika Sujova put together a dominant season by going 44-7 altogether, with a 21-5 mark in singles action. She went 19-4 in dual matches, playing four different positions in the UD lineup including going 10-1 at No. 5. Sujova went 5-0 against CAA opponents and had three different winning streaks of at least five matches.

Freshman Samantha Svendsen won nine singles matches on the season, and was a strong force in doubles play as she registered 18 wins with four different partners. She recorded a 14-4 mark in dual matches, including posting a 10-3 record at the No. 2 position.

Alina Vasilkenko joined the Blue Hens prior to the spring season and had a tremendous rookie campaign. She won her first 15 collegiate matches and finished the season going 19-2 across the top three singles positions, including a 13-2 mark at No. 2. Her 19 wins are tied for the eighth-most in UD history for a freshman season and her .905 winning percentage is ninth-best overall in program history. Vasilenko won 12 matches in straight-set decisions and had a perfect 7-0 record in three-set matches.

Maria Constantinou also joined the team before the spring semester. She jumped into the lineup late in the season and went a perfect 10-0 in singles, playing in three positions in the lineup, and went 3-0 in three-set matches. She also won all five of her doubles matches including going 2-0 at the CAA Championship.

Fallen Records
The Blue & Gold set or tied seven team and individual program records and several Blue Hens also put their names in the record books with several top performances.

Team
Win – 19 – 1st
Singles Wins - 126 – 1st
Singles Winning Percentage - .649 – 1st
Doubles Wins - 67 – 1st
Doubles Winning Percentage - .744 – 1st

Individual
Julieta Honrubia
Singles Matches Played – 37 – T-1st

Maria Constantinou
Singles Winning Percentage – 1.000 (10-0) - T-1st

Taking Home Some Hardware
Delaware’s highly successful season led to a lot of well-deserved hardware at the end of the year. Vasilenko was named the CAA Co-Freshman of the Year, becoming just the second Blue Hen to earn the honor, joining Brooke Pilkington who earned the honor in 2017.

Vasilenko also earned All-CAA First Team honors in singles as well as doubles as she and Sujova were nearly perfect in 19 matches, going 18-1 as a team. Junior Eliza Askarova earned All-CAA Second Team honors in singles after going 15-8 at the No. 1 position, while Sujova also was selected to the All-CAA Third Team for singles.

The Blue Hens earned three different all-region rankings when the ITA Collegiate Tennis Division I Women's Regional Rankings were announced earlier this month. The team finished the season ranked eighth in the Atlantic Region after posting a 19-6 record. Additionally, Vasilenko was ranked No. 10 among the region's top 20 singles players and Vasilenko and Sujova were also selected to the Atlantic Region's list of top doubles pairings, coming in at No. 7.

The #BlueHens took home plenty of hardware on Tuesday from the @CAASports postseason awards!

CAA Co-Freshman of the Year
3? All-CAA Singles selections
1? All-CAA First Team Doubles nod

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— Delaware Women's Tennis (@DelawareWTEN) May 17, 2022