Cayce, S.C. – With a 4-2 win over #2 DePaul, top-seeded Xavier won the 2024 BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Championship making history as the first team to do so in the reconfigured conference. Overall, the Musketeers have won five league titles.
Xavier earns the BIG EAST’s automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship. They will learn their first and second round fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, April 29, at 6:00 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
Sophomore Abby Nugent was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Playing at No. 3 singles, Nugent contributed straight-set victories in the quarter and semifinals defeating Marquette’s Abby Weise (6-3, 6-1) and UConn’s Isabel Petri-Bere (6-1, 6-4), respectively. The Ohio native clinched the Championship in a tightly contested match against DePaul’s Greta Carbone (6-3, 7-5, 6-4).
The Blue Demons took the first point of the match, earning the doubles advantage behind wins at No. 1 (Greta Carbone and Hannah Smith def. Imani Graham and Anna Roggenburk, 6-4) and No. 2 (Emily Casati and Yuliya Kizelbasheva def. Nugent and Ellie Brotherton, 6-4). Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year, Imani Graham, countered at No. 1 singles, defeating Hannah Smith (6-3, 6-1) to level the playing field.
DePaul rallied with a victory on the fifth court (Casati def. Sofia Mazzucato, 6-3, 6-2), but was again offset by a Musketeer triumph as Roggenburk defeated Eleanor Nobbs at No. 2 (7-5, 6-3). Xavier pulled ahead at No. 4 singles when Abigail Siminski surmounted Kizelbasheva (6-4, 2-6, 6-2).
All eyes were on court three where Nugent fended off Carbone for the clinch, battling through three sets to send the trophy back to Cincinnati.