With a second place finish in the 2026 Atlantic 10 (A10) Championship Tournament, the Fordham women’s tennis team’s season has come to a close. The top-seeded Fordham Rams were edged out by one match against the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams, ending the championship match with a final score of 4-3.
Despite the finals outcome not being the wished for ending for the Fordham Rams, the team had an incredible showing at the A10 Tournament this year.
The Rams went into the weekend as the number one seed at the A10 Championship for the second year in a row. The team touched down in Florida on a nine match winning streak that they added an additional two wins to by the end of tournament play, rounding out their overall season record to 15-10.
In addition to their hot streak, the team arrived at the tournament with a couple of new accolades. First-year Valerija Kargina, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’29, was named the Under Armour A10 Women’s Tennis Rookie of the Week on April 21, making it her third weekly award of the year.
Kargina, is not the only Ram who has been recognized for her success on the court this season, senior Nevena Kolarevic, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’26, is the reigning A10 Performer of the Year, was the A10 Master Singles Champions last fall and, alongside her doubles partner Julianne Nguyen, FCRH ’27, became the first Fordham tennis student-athletes to compete at the NCAA Championship last November.
The Championship Finals between Fordham and VCU was not only a Rams showdown, but a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds of the tournament and a rematch of the 2025 A10 Championship final.
Tournament play opened up for the Rams with their match against Dayton University at the United States Tennis Association National campus in Orlando, Florida. The Rams shut out the Flyers 4-0, rounding out their winning streak to 10 wins. Fordham secured wins in both completed doubles matches, with a 6-1 win from Kargina and Lily Chitambar, GSBRH ’27, followed by the second doubles pair wins from Catalina Padilla, GSBRH ’28, and Paola Dalmonico, GSBRH ’28, with a 6-1 decision.
The win over Dayton was secured by the singles matches from Dalmonico, Kargina and Chitmabar, which were won in all straight sets. The win over the flyers sent the Rams to the semifinals match against Davidson College. Fordham had recently played Davidson at the start of April where they beat the Wildcats with a score of 4-0.
Fordham took the doubles point for the start of the match, followed by Kolarevic, who started the singles off strong with the first win. Their momentum was carried on by Padilla’s victory at the fourth position that put the Rams over 3-0. The first point that Fordham had surrendered in the last 11 matches came with Davidson’s one win at third singles, but Nguyen secured the Rams’ spot in the championship finals with her win at sixth singles.
The Championship Finals between Fordham and VCU was not only a Rams showdown, but a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds of the tournament and a rematch of the 2025 A10 Championship final.
After VCU took the doubles point for the match, Kolarevic put up the first Fordham Point with a straight set win. Nguyen was next on the board for Fordham evening the match again to 2-2. Fordham briefly took the lead with Chitambar’s win at fifth singles, but was tied again by VCU with 3-3.
The championship came down to fourth singles in a match, Padilla won the first set over VCU’s Andrea Magallanes, VCU ’28, who took the second set evening the score. The match came to a standstill due to a thunderstorm, but when Padilla and Magallanes returned to the court, Magallanes won the third set, 6-2, clinching the match for VCU and securing the Championship title.
