Temple University Athletics
Women's Tennis Takes On VCU This Friday
2.25.21 | Women's Tennis
PHILADELPHIA -- Temple women's tennis hits the road for their first away match of the 2020-21 season. The Owls will travel to Richmond, VA. to take on the VCU Rams at the Thalhimer Tennis Center tomorrow, Feb. 26, at 9 a.m.
The Owls
> Temple is led by head coach Steve Mauro in his 14th season with the women's tennis program.
> The Owls opened their season with a strong showing, sweeping Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) 7-0 in their season and home opener last Sunday.
> The women earned the doubles point with wins in the second and third flights and went on to win six straight singles matches to secure the win.
> One of the impressive feats of the day came from graduate student Cecilia Castelli who defeated FDU's Isabelle Ismanescu in singles (6-0 6-0).
> Three freshmen, Ling Hsuan Wei, Sena Takebe and Vineetha Mummadi, made their collegiate debuts and nabbed their first victories of their careers in both doubles and singles competition.
Scouting VCU
> VCU debuts a new head coach this season. Vivian Segnini is a former professional tennis player and graduate assistant of the team from 2018-19, helping lead the team to the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship.
> Senior Paola Exposito Diaz-Delgado has been ranked No. 116 in the ITA preseason rankings.
> VCU welcomes two newcomers to the team, Lara Claudia Van der Merwe and Nina Sorkin. Sorkin was ranked the No. 1 recruit in Virginia in 2017 and previously attended Virginia Tech. Van der Merwe hails from South Africa and has reached No. 182 in the world ITF rankings.
> Currently, the Rams hold a 4-4 record this season.
> Last time out, the Rams had a successful weekend, sweeping both Davidson College (7-0) and William & Mary (7-0).
Players Mentioned
