With the Hoya women able to earn a non-conference win over the weekend, Big East competition still proved difficult for Georgetown as the men and women lost three matches by a combined score of 18-3 against conference foes.
Georgetown’s women’s team (2-5, 1-3 Big East) had a successful weekend in Pittsburgh, downing Duquesne 6-1. After dropping the No. 1 doubles match, senior Liz Winokur and freshman Elizabeth Sullivan stepped up to take the second one 8-2.
The freshmen duo of Alex Sebia and Caroline Kuehn clinched the doubles point with an 8-4 victory in the third match.
Singles also went the way of the Hoyas, with junior Courtney Olsen battling off Johanna Bezjak in three sets, winning 7-6, 2-6, 6-4. Senior Stephanie Cohen dropped the first set 7-5 to freshman Zena Williams, but took the point after Williams retired. Kuehn continued Georgetown’s success by taking the third singles match in three sets, defeating Rachel McGowan, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Then Alex Sebia cleaned house, taking the sixth singles match in three sets.
Head Coach Gordie Ernst said he was happy with the win. “The girls are really improving. We only have seven of them, and they have really formed a strong group,” he said. “Alex Sebia is a freshman and has a bad back, but is getting there and won a tight three-setter. Any time you win in three sets, like Alex and Courtney did, is really impressive.”
Unfortunately, the women could not keep the momentum alive against Big East rival Pittsburgh, losing by a score of 6-1. The loss was not without highlights though, as Winokur posted an impressive victory in a closely fought 6-7, 7-5, 10-5 match. The Hoyas stayed closely with Pitt in almost every other match, with Kuehn and Sullivan each pushing sets in their matches to tiebreaks. In the doubles matches, Cohen and Olsen began with a 3-2 lead in No. 1 doubles match before Pitt rallied back to take a 6-3 lead. Cohen and Olsen refused to concede defeat, evening the match at seven games all before they lost in another tiebreak.
The men (2-6, 0-2 Big East) were unable to enjoy the same success that the women had this weekend, losing by scores of 6-1 to Big East rivals Marquette and DePaul. The lone Hoya highlight in the DePaul match came from senior Ted Twyang, who posted a hard fought 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory in the sixth singles spot.
The Marquette matches “were much closer” according to Ernst. In spite of Marquette’s red-hot winning streak of six matches, the fourth, fifth and sixth singles spots were all decided in third set super tiebreaks.
Junior Adam Gross’ match was literally decided by two points, with the junior winning 10-8 in the tiebreak. Sophomore David Tillem and Twyang were not able to squeak out a win, each losing in tiebreaks, 10-5 and 10-7 respectively. Twyang’s match was among the closest Georgetown has seen this season, with his loss being decided entirely by tiebreaks, 6-7, 7-6, 10-7.
Ernst knew when making this season’s demanding schedule that “it would be tough,” but believes it “is great preparation for the Big East Tournament,” and that the team is taking it very well.
“The team is acting like they are six and two, and not two and six, which is a great attitude to have,” Ernst said.
The men and women both have a week off, before the men open their home matches at the Army-Navy Country Club in two weeks.
