Towson Women’s Tennis Opens Fall Season With Strong Showing Against Morgan State
By Brian Hradsky
The Towson Tigers women’s tennis team opened its 2026 fall season with an impressive performance Friday afternoon, winning four of five matches against the Morgan State Bears during the Towson Hidden Duals at the Tiger Tennis Complex.
What was originally scheduled as a three-day tournament became a one-day event after a nor’easter brought rain and strong winds into the Baltimore area over the weekend. Towson was originally scheduled to compete against Morgan State on Friday, Delaware State on Saturday and Coppin State and George Mason on Sunday. The weather eliminated the final two days of competition.
Towson still took advantage of its limited opportunity. Kiersten Tambe, Ashira Murray, Gaia Montecchi and Chandré Boshoff each won in straight sets against Morgan State, giving the Tigers a clean sweep of the four singles matches contested Friday.
Aubrey Carper and Chloe Courtnage represented Towson in the doubles portion of the hidden dual. The format featured four singles matches and one doubles match, leaving Towson with victories in four of the five overall contests.
Tigers sweep singles competition
Towson could not have asked for a much stronger start in singles.
Tambe handled the No. 1 position and earned a straight-set victory. The junior has been Towson’s primary No. 1 singles player over the previous two seasons and entered the new campaign as one of the Tigers’ most experienced players.
Murray followed with another straight-set win at No. 2. The senior is coming off an outstanding junior campaign in which she went 15-4 in singles competition and finished 8-0 while playing at the No. 5 position. Her performance against Morgan State provided an encouraging opening to her final season with Towson.
Montecchi took care of business at No. 3 singles. The junior entered the fall after earning third-team All-Coastal Athletic Association honors last season, when she posted a 15-5 singles record while competing across the top three positions in Towson’s lineup. She spent most of that season at No. 2, where she went 13-5.
Boshoff completed Towson’s singles sweep with a straight-set victory at No. 4.
Together, the four victories provided exactly the type of start head coach Jamie Peterson wanted from a veteran roster.
Experienced roster gives Towson reason for optimism
The Tigers entered the fall with considerably more continuity than a rebuilding program.
Towson returned seven of its top eight players from the 2025-26 team, which finished 10-10. That represented the Tigers’ first .500 season since 2018-19. Nine players overall returned to Peterson’s roster for 2026-27.
Three returning Tigers also earned All-CAA recognition following last season.
Montecchi received third-team singles honors, while Tambe and Boshoff were selected to the All-CAA Third Team in doubles. Those accolades give Towson proven players at several important positions in the lineup rather than forcing the Tigers to replace the core of last season’s team.
Murray gives the Tigers another established singles option after her 15-win junior season. Tamzin Pountney also returns after regularly playing at No. 4 last season, although the junior did not compete against Morgan State on Friday.
Carper and Courtnage provide additional doubles experience. The pair went 7-4 as Towson’s No. 2 doubles team last season and won five of their final six matches together.
That combination of returning talent could prove important when Towson transitions from fall tournaments into its primary dual-match schedule.
Peterson begins 11th season
The 2026-27 campaign is Peterson’s 11th season leading the women’s tennis program at his alma mater.
Peterson entered the fall with 85 coaching victories at Towson. According to the university, only Ken Volk with 106 victories and Peter Walten with 86 entered the season ahead of him on the program’s coaching wins list.
Peterson also has his own history as a Towson tennis player. He was a two-time captain for the Tigers’ men’s program and compiled a 64-35 singles record from 1991-95.
After Friday’s competition, Peterson praised how his experienced group responded in its first competitive action since the spring. He specifically pointed to the benefit of returning nine players and the possibilities that continuity gives Towson during the 2026-27 season.
The opening results supported that optimism.
All four singles players won without requiring a third set. For a team returning most of its lineup, immediately getting production from several familiar names was an encouraging way to begin the fall.
Weather changes entire weekend
Towson initially expected a much larger test.
The Hidden Duals were scheduled to feature seven programs: Towson, Morgan State, Coppin State, Loyola Maryland, Mount St. Mary’s, George Mason and Delaware State. Towson was supposed to face four different opponents across the three days.
Hidden duals use a format that differs from a traditional spring dual match. Each matchup at the Towson event was designed to include four singles matches and one doubles match. Matches were scheduled as best-of-three sets, with a super tiebreaker replacing the traditional third set when necessary.
Instead, the nor’easter drastically shortened Towson’s opening weekend.
That prevented Peterson and his staff from evaluating as much of the roster as originally planned, but the Tigers received meaningful competition against another local Division I program before the weather took over.
Most importantly, Towson left the weekend with four victories in five matches rather than losing the entire opening event to the weather.
Strong start for Towson’s returning core
Although fall tennis does not carry the same team implications as the primary spring dual season, it gives players an opportunity to develop their games, establish lineup positions and gain competitive repetitions.
Towson’s performance against Morgan State offered several encouraging signs in those areas.
Tambe immediately delivered from the No. 1 position. Murray moved up the lineup and won at No. 2. Montecchi, already an All-CAA singles player, earned another victory at No. 3, while Boshoff gave Towson another win from the fourth position.
That depth could become one of Towson’s strengths.
Last season showed the Tigers could reach .500, but returning nearly the entire core gives them an opportunity to build rather than start over. The first day of the new season did nothing to diminish that possibility.
Up next
Towson will not have to wait long for another opportunity to compete.
The Tigers are scheduled to make the short trip to Loyola Maryland for the McClure Invitational from Oct. 2-4.
That tournament should give Towson more of the match experience it expected to receive during its own Hidden Duals before the weather shortened the weekend.
With the fall season designed largely around development and preparation, getting a full weekend of competition at Loyola would give Peterson another opportunity to evaluate combinations and provide playing time throughout his veteran roster.
MSB Take
The weather made this a much shorter opening weekend than Towson expected, but winning four of five matches is still an excellent way for the Tigers to begin the fall.
The most encouraging part was the singles sweep. Tambe, Murray, Montecchi and Boshoff all winning in straight sets shows the experience in this lineup immediately carried over from last season. Towson did not need three-set comebacks or tiebreakers to get those four victories.
There is also plenty to like about the construction of this roster. Towson went 10-10 last season and returns seven of its top eight players, including three players who earned All-CAA recognition. Murray is coming off a 15-win singles season as well, giving Peterson several proven options throughout the lineup.
One day against Morgan State does not define an entire season, especially during the fall tournament schedule. It does, however, give Towson a strong starting point.
The McClure Invitational should provide a much better opportunity to see the Tigers’ depth over several days. After the nor’easter shortened the home tournament, Towson will head to Loyola looking to build on a 4-1 opening performance.
