University of Sheffield women won tennis Varsity 2024, defeating Hallam 4-2.
They have now won the fixture three years in a row, following up on their comfortable 5-1 victory last time out.
The day started with singles action, with University of Sheffield’s Ema Lodererova taking on Hallam’s Chloe Gallagher.
Lodererova stormed the first set 6-1, dominating points with her powerful serve which onlookers described as a ‘canon’.
The second set was much more closely contested, with Gallagher taking a 4-2 lead at one stage, threatening to take the match to a third set.
But Lodererova fought back with four consecutive games, winning the second set 6-4 to give Uni of Sheffield their first tennis Varsity point this year, and allowing Lodererova to repeat her victory over Gallagher from last year.
Meanwhile, on court three, Hallam’s Sophia Munir battled Louisa Fuller for Uni of Sheffield.
Munir had the advantage in experience, having played Varsity last year, whereas Fuller was making her debut in the fixture and looking to prove her talent.
Fuller took the first set 6-2, despite a valiant defensive display by Munir.
The second set was a tighter contest, but Fuller just had a bit too much for Hallam’s second seed and closed out the game 6-4, extending the black and gold lead to 2-0.
It was then time for the 3rd seeds, with Uni of Sheffield’s Natalie Proctor just falling short of Hallam’s Aimee Cheetham, who took her out in two sets to give Sheffield Hallam a first point of their own.
Their game was followed by the final women’s singles match, which saw Hallam’s Lillian Forouhandeh taking on Annie Mahil for the University of Sheffield.
Mahil had no Varsity singles experience coming into this fixture, but did win her doubles match with Ashima Vardhan last year. Forouhandeh was also making her debut.
But it was Mahil who took control with a resounding 6-1 victory in the first set, following it with an even more resounding 6-0 win in the second.
Mahil managed to stay in rallies comfortably, whereas Forouhandeh committed a few too many unforced errors and couldn’t keep up with the pinpoint serving from Mahil throughout.
After the singles success, the University of Sheffield had a 3-1 lead going into the two doubles matches.
First Ema Lodererova and Annie Mahil for Uni of Sheffield faced off against Chloe Gallagher and Sophia Munir for Hallam.
The first two sets were tight, with the first being a 7-6 win for Uni of Sheffield, and the second being a 7-6 win for Hallam, taking the match to a last set tiebreak, which Mahil and Lodererova were able to win.
This secured the overall win for Uni of Sheffield’s women, and meant less pressure for the next doubles match, though each side was still eager to win it.
Louisa Fuller teamed up with Natalie Proctor to face Aimee Cheetham and Lillian Forouhandeh, with Hallam’s side clinching the match in a last set tiebreak to win 6-4, 5-7, 7-10.
This result meant a final score of 4-2 to the University of Sheffield, with another win for the women in black and gold.
For Hallam, another disappointing loss but an improvement on their 5-1 defeat last year, with a positive performance from Aimee Cheetham in particular, who won both her matches.
The win for Uni of Sheffield follows the 6-0 victory for the Women’s 2s that happened just before Easter.
All image credits: James Lawford