UConn women's tennis to compete in the Army Invitational

After a very successful weekend at Quinnipiac, the UConn women’s tennis team looks to continue their success at one of the most competitive tournaments of the fall season, the Army Invitational.

This weekend, the Huskies will travel to West Point, N.Y. in the hopes of securing victories in what will likely be the most-attended tournament of the fall season. The Army Invitational draws in competitors from beyond the region, creating an opportunity for the Huskies to be tested against a variety of players.

“The teams will be a bit stronger, by and large, at Army,” said Coach Glenn Marshall, who was cautiously optimistic about this weekend’s prospects. “We had success [at Quinnipiac] and success breeds confidence.”

This confidence, Marshall hopes, will be the key component to a successful weekend for the team. Stellar performances at Quinnipiac by sophomore Maxie Weinberg and junior Lucy Nutting in singles, along with sophomore Emilie Burgess and Nutting in doubles, dominated this week’s headlines. But that was not all for the team last weekend. Nearly every competitor for the Huskies walked away from Quinnipiac having won at least one match of singles or doubles play. Those results are proving to be significantly encouraging to the team.

The format for the Army Invitational will be very similar to Quinnipiac, with both singles and doubles play. There will be four numbered singles flights and two numbered doubles flights for the Huskies to compete in. However, the Army Invitational provides a greater number of courts for the players than Quinnipiac could, which will give the women more time competing on the court.

“I think as a team we are ready for this weekend,” said senior Julia Allen. “We have been training hard, hitting well and feel very confident for a great weekend.”

Last season, the Huskies had moderate success at the tournament. Weinberg fell in the first round of competition in her flight, but advanced through four straight consolation rounds, ultimately winning the consolation final over Sacred Heart. Allen and Nutting advanced to the semifinals in the second flight of doubles, while three others advanced to the quarterfinals in their respective singles flights.

Marshall stated that even though no Big East teams will be present at the tournament, he would be closely watching Army, Fordham and especially UMass, whom the Huskies will host on campus next month. The competition from the teams in attendance this weekend will likely be more difficult than anything else the team has faced so far this season. But Marshall is convinced that they are up for the challenge­—and so is everyone else on the team.

“We look forward to performing well for UConn and expect great results in both the doubles and singles end of this tournament at Army,” Allen said. “We want to show the other Big East schools that we have a solid team and that we will compete well this year.”