As the saying goes, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
This weekend, Binghamton University’s women’s tennis needs to get going.
The Bearcats are sitting comfortably at 9-5 and won their first America East match of the season authoritatively, 7-0 over Hartford on Saturday. However, the stiffest tests lie ahead in Maryland-Baltimore County (8-3) on Friday and Stony Brook (5-6) on Sunday, at the West Gym courts. The stronger opponent should be a talent-laden UMBC team.
Binghamton suffered a heartbreaking 4-2 defeat to the Retrievers last year in the AE Tournament to end the season — something the Bearcats haven’t forgotten.
“We still have a bad taste in our mouths from the loss in last year’s conference semifinals,” said BU senior captain Gayathri Balasundar. “We’re looking forward to taking them on.”
The Retrievers have added talent to an already strong roster that includes five of the six players who defeated Binghamton last season. New to the team this season are two standout freshmen, Ana Mungo and Emily Mannix. Mungo has risen to the top spot on the Retriever’s roster, while Mannix has seen considerable time at fifth singles.
While the Retrievers will surely be a tough out, the Bearcats have been able to defeat them in recent history. Binghamton did beat UMBC last year in the regular season, 4-3, before falling in the conference tournament.
The Seawolves lost to the Bearcats 5-2 last season and have not had a significant increase in talent since. However, since opening the season 0-6, the Seawolves have rattled off five straight wins, including a 5-2 non-conference win at local-rival Hofstra on Wednesday.
In Mike Stevens’ five years as coach Binghamton has never lost to Stony Brook.
Friday’s match begins at 3 p.m. and Sunday’s at 11 a.m.