ELON, N.C. – It does not look like conditioning will be an issue for the 2023-24 North Carolina A&T women's tennis team. The Aggies kickstarted the fall portion of their season Friday at the Elon Fall Tennis Invitational at Elon University's Powell Center, with a few Aggies going the distance.
But the long matches paid dividends.
Sophomore Nour Gueblaoui played in a 3 ½ hour pressure-filled, exhausting singles match after playing a doubles match. Freshman Hana El Sherif won a grueling singles match, and Gueblaoui's doubles partner, sophomore Isabela Romanichen, also won her singles match. Ultimately, A&T's productive and prosperous day proved the Aggies are prepared for the rigors of the spring championship season.
"To be honest, it feels good to get these wins," said Romanichen. "It is a result of my hard work and the hard work of our coach, Dejon Bivens. We've been working on my conditioning a lot to be more solid, which is really helping my game. I'm looking forward to the pace and maintaining the confidence for tomorrow's semifinals."
Romanichen defeated UNC Greensboro's Lauren Thompson 6-1, 6-4, and will play East Tennessee State University's Alessandra Caceres in the semifinals of the Powell Singles-A Bracket. El Sherif played in the Oak Singles-A Bracket on Friday. She defeated East Carolina's Brooke LaFrentz 6-2, 6-4 to advance to play Emory's Ilayda Baykan in the semifinals.
"It was a tough match," said El Sherif. "I kept the same energy focus the whole match. The win is great to start with as a new player at A&T."
Romanichen and Gueblaoui won by forfeit over the Norfolk State duo of Laura Ruiz and Gabriela Davidescu before earning a win on the court against UNCG's Sydney Bly and Ella Olexa 8-1. The two sophomores played as a doubles team for the first time in their careers. They will next face the North Carolina Central team of Maria Picazo Martin and Isabella Exsted in the Oak Doubles Bracket.
"We were communicating and connecting really well on the court, considering it was our first time together," said Gueblaoui. "We had fun together. I'm looking forward to our doubles again on Saturday."
Gueblaoui will see the NCCU Eagle Exsted twice on Saturday after her marathon affair against Virginia Tech's Samantha Tepes. The two started approximately at 4 p.m. on Friday and did not finish until well after 7 p.m. Tepes won the first set 6-4 after several games went to 40-all and went into a deuce situation.
Gueblaoui fought off three match points in the second set to beat Tepes 7-6. Perhaps it was Gueblaoui's conditioning, but after those long, arduous sets and games, Gueblaoui pulled away in the third set to win 6-2.
"I really gave everything I had out there today, staying solid and positive mentally, and got the win," said Gueblaoui. "The win is really important for me to start our season, and I can't wait to keep working hard with the whole team."
