Nate Jarret
Assistant Director, Communications and Strategic Brand Engagement
DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Cincinnati women’s tennis team closed out competition at the Flyer Invitational this weekend in Dayton.
After a hidden doubles format, Cincinnati faced Northern Kentucky and hosted Dayton in singles and doubles action at the Graul Tennis Complex.
“It was a positive start to our fall season,” the coach said Eric Toth said. “This is the earliest we’ve ever played in an event and without a ton of team practice there were a lot of positives to be happy about.”
The Bearcats took all three fields in both doubleheaders against the Norse and Flyers on Friday. Cincinnati closed out the first day of action with four singles wins against Dayton si Natasha Opaciuch, Katie Ferguson, Sofia Bruno AND Hayley Hirsch got victory.
The freshman duo of Opaciuch and Ferguson earned their first wins as Bearcats with 6-4 doubleheader victories.
“We haven’t put a ton of emphasis on doubles in the early part of the season, so our performance on Friday was the highlight of the weekend.” added Toth.
Cincinnati opened the contest on Saturday with six straight wins over the Flyers. Maria Santili, Kelly Niehaus, Sanjana Reddy, Opaciuch, Bruno and Hirsch secured their matches in straight sets. Santilli took all 12 of her match points with a 6-0 straight sets victory.
The Bearcats closed out the invitational with four more singles wins against the Flyers. Reddy and Ferguson secured their courts, while Santilli and Bruno earned their third singles wins of the weekend, all in straight sets.
“I thought the singles showed us that we need to get back into match shape, but there’s a lot to be excited about and work on as we continue into the fall season.” said Toth.
Cincinnati will return to action when the Bearcats travel to Thunder of the Mountains on Sept. 23-25.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on women’s tennis in Cincinnati, please visit GoBEARCATS.com and follow @GoBearcatsWTEN on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
