Women’s tennis’ strong fall start translates to success at Commander-in-Chief’s Challenge

WASHINGTON, D.C.: As Air Force Women's Tennis build a body of work in the early stages of its 2024-25 season, all signs continue to point positively as the Falcons' upward trajectory carried them through service academy competition in D.C. over the weekend.

Facing off in doubles and singles action at the Army & Navy Club against colleagues from Annapolis and West Point, Air Force amassed three doubles victories and six singles wins on the weekend.

The Falcons' weekend opened with doubles against Army and singles play against Navy on Friday morning. Against Army, Air Force earned its first win of the weekend, as junior Arianna Van Houweling/sophomore Nadia Kojonroj, pairing up for the first time this season, defeated Army's Paige Herremans/Cooper Jackson, 6-3.
Taking on Navy in the afternoon in singles play, the Falcons took five of six courts against the Midshipmen; On line one, senior captain Alexis Odom downed Julia Lee, 6-1, 6-1. In 2024 dual action, Lee went 6-2, including a 4-1 mark on Navy's top court; Kojonroj defeated senior Sylvia Eklund, 6-3, 6-0; Van Houweling earned a dominant, 6-1, 6-0 win on court three against Navy sophomore Olivia Fermo; Freshman Shivaani Selvan earned a 6-4, 6-4 win on line five over sophomore Manci Pal, who closed her freshman season with a 6-2 record over dual singles opponents; On court six, sophomore Giovanna Sanchirico earned a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Emma Gu.

Day two featured singles competition between the Falcons and Army, in which the Black Knights collected wins on five of six courts. Odom, on the top flight, capped a 2-0 weekend with a three-set win over Jenna Sabile in which she clinched victory with a 10-6 super tiebreak in the third.

Capping the weekend with doubles play against Navy on Sunday, Air Force took two of three courts, as Kojonroj/Van Houweling defeated Kate Lee/Emma Gu, 6-4 to finish off a 2-0 weekend for the duo, and Odom/Mavor earned a 6-4 win over Pal/Molly Bellia.

With the weekend's results, Air Force currently sits at 27-21 in singles competition and 13-13 in doubles. Odom improves to 5-1 in singles after a 2-0 weekend; Kojonroj, 4-1; Sanchirico, 4-1; Mavor, 4-2; Limbago, 3-2; Selvan, 3-3. In doubles, Van Houweling/Kojonroj open their season 2-0 as a pair, with both improving to 5-1 and 4-2, respectively; Splitting their weekend, Odom/Mavor open the year at 1-1 as a pair, with Mavor improving to 4-2.

Up Next:
The Falcons are off to Fort Collins to take on Colorado State's Jon Messik Invite, Sept. 27-29.

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