STORRS, Conn.—The third straight win over the last four days against a BIG EAST opponent was a dramatic come-from-behind victory as Villanova (4-2) edged Connecticut (7-4) by a final score of 4-3 at the Tennis Courts on Saturday afternoon. A sweep of the top four singles matches was the difference in the match for the Wildcats, who trailed 3-1 before reeling off wins in each of the last three matches to conclude in the fourth, third and second spots in the lineup.
 
The decisive point came at No. 2 singles where senior Claudia Althans (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) outlasted Leonia Hoppe in three sets for a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory. That was the only one of the singles matches that went to a third set and Althans improved to 5-1 on the season with the clinching victory. Earlier in the match, Althans and junior Emily Strande (Centennial, Colo.) recorded the only doubles victory of the day for Villanova when they won a 6-2 decision over Doga Selen Takunyaci and Denise Lai.
 
Strande and senior Lexi DeNucci (Glastonbury, Conn.) also improved to 5-1 on the season after their respective singles victories. DeNucci defeated Caroline Cook in the No. 3 singles match in a 6-1, 7-5 decision while Strande cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over Lai. The other win on the day came from junior Annalise Klopfer (Palm Harbor, Fla.) at No. 1 singles where she powered to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Julieanne Bou.
 
The host Huskies captured the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Bou and Hoppe won a tiebreaker over Klopfer and DeNucci for a 7-6 win in the top spot, while Cook and Aleksandra Karamyshev defeated junior Sabina Grigorian (Atlanta, Ga.) and freshman Rose Kenny (Charlotte, N.C.) by a 6-0 count.
 
Karamyshev defeated Kenny at No. 6 singles (6-4, 6-3) in the first singles match to conclude as Connecticut increased its lead to 2-0 in the team score. Klopfer tallied the win over Bou in the top lineup spot to get the Wildcats to within 2-1, but Takunyaci made the score 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over freshman Bella Steffen (Cary, N.C.) in the No. 5 singles match.
 
Villanova has won three straight and four of five overall. Next up for the Wildcats is a Tuesday afternoon match against Penn at 2 p.m.