PHOEBE LANGDON
Special to The Leader
The Fredonia women’s tennis team’s three-game winning streak came to an end Wednesday at the hands of the Geneseo Knights, 9-0, on the Steele Hall courts, putting their current record at 4-2.
The doubles teams of sophomore Olivia Miller and freshman Anna Chiacchia at first, Chloe Cohen and Halee Dickinson at second, and Phoebe Langdon and Christine Thomas were all defeated 2-8. Despite the doubles sweep, the Devil’s improved their scores by a point each compared to last year’s 1-8 losses.
Miller, at first singles, fell to her opponent 2-6, 2-6. Despite pulling her hamstring in the middle of her second set, she managed to put up a fight and finish the match, never giving up on a point. At second singles, Cohen was defeated 2-6, 1-6. Acting as a wall against her challenger as she typically does, she was unable to come out on top.
Freshman Chiacchia lost her first match of the season 2-6, 2-6 at third singles. Earlier that day, she was named SUNYAC’s top singles player of the week. This marks the first time a Blue Devil tennis player has held such a title. Prior to this match, Chiacchia was sporting an impressive 5-0 record.
Dickinson at fourth started her match strong with an impressive 4-1 start. However, she failed to stay in command and was defeated 4-6, 2-6.
Starting in her first collegiate match, freshman Avril King was defeated 6-1, 6-0 at sixth singles. Despite her loss, the underclassman shows promising potential for the future of the team.
Coach Greg Catalano, in his postgame chat with the team, expressed his pride in the team’s efforts, noting that in his three years as head coach, he’s only seen improvements against such a challenging opponent.
Fredonia was looking forward to answer this defeat with a victory against Wells the following Saturday, but the opportunity was washed away from the day’s thunderstorm.
The Blue Devils look to build another win-streak starting in Pennsylvania against Thiel College on Tuesday. After reviewing last year’s 6-3 victory over the Tomcat’s, the team’s hopes are high as they prepare for their upcoming matches.
Phoebe Langdon is a member of the Fredonia women’s tennis team.