Maryland tennis splits weekend matches with Old Dominion, Delaware

The Maryland tennis team continued its road trip this weekend with trips to Old Dominion and Delaware, looking to prevent the season from heading into a tailspin. The Terps entered the weekend 1-3 and had been shut out by VCU in their most recent match last weekend.

Ultimately, Maryland finished the weekend 1-1, struggling severely on Friday before bouncing back Sunday.

Friday: Old Dominion 4, Maryland 0

Maryland’s doubles play, which was such a weapon for the team last season, faltered again as the duo of Millie Stretton and Eva Alexandrova lost 6-2 while Anastasiia Gevel and Kate Yemelyanenka fell 6-3. Zoe Kulkarni and Amber Policare were down 5-2 when their match was called.

Similarly to doubles play, every single Terp was incredibly overmatched in singles and the Terps couldn’t even capture a set, let alone a match. Alexandrova was the first to lose, as she fell 6-1, 6-0. Kulkarni followed Alexandrova with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat.

With Old Dominion up 3-0, all four Terps needed to pull off miracles and come back from deficits to win their respective matches. That hope faded quickly as Policare would drop her match by a score of 6-0, 6-4. At the time the match was called, Yemelyanenka was down 6-4, 5-2, Stretton was down 6-2, 3-2, and Gevel was down 6-1, 5-2.

While it had been said before, this match was easily the worst for the Terps this season as they were dominated on every court. Yet, there was no time for Maryland to relax as they faced Delaware in Newark two days later.

Sunday: Maryland 4, Delaware 2

The Terps looked like a completely different team, and that started by returning to last year’s form in doubles play, where they won the point to give themselves an early 1-0 lead. Alexandrova and Stretton won their doubles match, while Policare and Kulkarni did the same.

In singles play, Maryland got out to an incredibly hot start, as four Terps immediately captured first-set victories.

Alexandrova was the first Terp to win her singles match, as she won in straight sets. After Delaware captured a point, Stretton won her singles match to put the Terps up 3-1. Delaware went on to take another singles match, but Policare won her match in three sets to give Maryland a much-needed win.

Overall, the Terps finished the weekend 1-1, and it really was a tale of two matches. They were incredibly overmatched Friday, which made it surprising to see them look so strong on Sunday. Hopefully, Maryland can use Sunday’s convincing win to set the tone for the rest of its season.

The Terps’ next match will be Saturday in New York against Columbia.