Boston College women’s tennis kicked off its season with matches against Army (0-1) and Syracuse (1-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) on back-to-back days. Friday’s match against Army marked BC’s season opener, and Saturday’s against Syracuse marked the beginning of ACC play. The Eagles came out strong against Army in a 7-0 victory but faced stiffer competition in their 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Orange.
BC (1-1, 0-1) swept its singles matchups against Army. Natasha Irani dropped just one of 13 games in the third slot. Kylie Wilcox also shined, losing just three games in the No. 2 spot. BC also took two out of three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. The doubles duo of Wilcox and Yufei Long was the only pair to lose a match to the Black Knights.
Freshmen Marice Aguiar and Sophia Edwards both won their singles matches to start their college careers undefeated, with Edwards losing just three games across her two sets in the No. 6 spot.
BC’s second matchup of the season and conference opener did not go as well for the Eagles. Irani and Laura Lopez were the only Eagles to walk away with singles wins, and BC won just one doubles match. Wilcox and Long redeemed themselves from their loss the previous day as the only BC duo to win on the doubles courts. Edwards and Aguiar both dropped their respective singles matches.
When COVID-19 caused the abrupt end to last season, Syracuse women’s tennis sat at No. 6 in the ACC standings. The Eagles were No. 12 at the time of the cancellation after starting the season 0-4 in conference play. BC’s next two opponents this season—Notre Dame and Louisville—were No. 7 and No. 13 respectively in the ACC at the time.
While the Eagles played this week’s matches in Massachusetts, they weren’t in Chestnut Hill. Instead, the teams took the courts at Weymouth Club in Weymouth, Mass. According to Senior Associate Athletics Director for Communications Jason Baum, the courts in the Margot Connell Recreation Center do not meet certain ACC requirements to play conference matches there.
After beginning its season in rapid succession, BC will not play again until Feb. 12 when it will travel to Notre Dame to face the Fighting Irish on the road. Two days later, BC will continue its road trip against Louisville. While neither Notre Dame nor Louisville have faced ACC opponents so far in the 2020-21 season, both teams have winning records overall.
Featured Image by Kait Devir / For The Heights
