Williamsburg, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team battled No. 42 VCU
for more than four hours, before the Rams finally pulled away from the Tribe,
6-1, on Wednesday afternoon at the
Millie West Tennis Facility. After VCU won
the opening two points of the match, sophomore
Maria Belaya brought the Green
and Gold within 2-1 with a victory at the No. 1 singles position, before the Rams pulled out the final four
singles matches, including a trio in third sets. W&M fell to 5-15 overall and
1-2 in CAA play, while Rams upped their mark to 16-4 and 6-0 in league action.
W&M jumped out to the early lead in doubles play as the
Tribe's top team of Belaya and sophomore
Jeltje Loomans continued its
dominant play. The Green and Gold duo, which is ranked No. 24 in the
national rankings released on Tuesday, drilled the VCU team of Alex and Ana Bara, 8-2,
for its 13th straight win. Belaya and Loomans improved to 20-5 on the year and
an impressive 13-2 in dual match play. VCU rallied to pull out a pair of 8-6
wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 position in clinching the opening point of the match.
After a Ram win at the No. 3 position upped the margin to
2-0, Belaya stepped up at the top singles slot for the Tribe. After moving into
the national singles rankings on Tuesday, the Tribe sophomore quickly
dispatched of Ana Bara, 6-2, 6-0, to pull W&M within 2-1. Belaya, who is
ranked No. 118 nationally, won her second straight match and 12th overall. She
possesses five wins this season at the No. 1 singles slot.
A VCU victory at the No. 6 post put the Richmond school
within a single win of clinching the team triumph. The balance of the match
came down to a trio of three-set affairs at the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5
positions. Junior
Anik Cepeda jumped out to a set advantage at the No. 5 slot
with a 7-5 win in the first over Salome Knitashvili. The Ram player though
pulled even with a 6-1 win in the second and clinched the VCU victory with a
6-1 triumph in the third.
Junior
Nina Vulovich rallied from a set deficit to force a
third set at the No. 4 post. After VCU's Alena Gerasimova won the opening set,
7-5, Vulovich pulled out the second, 6-4. Gerasimova took a 5-3 lead in the third,
before the Tribe junior reeled off three straight games to take a 6-5 advantage.
Gerasimova forced a tiebreaker and pulled out the 7-6 (1) win.
At the No. 2 position, Loomans won the opening set, 7-5,
before Alex Bara grabbed the second, 6-3. In the decisive third set, Bara
outlasted the Tribe sophomore, 6-2, and snapped Loomans' three-match winning
streak.
The Tribe will return to action on Saturday, April 14, when
it hosts Boston University at noon on Senior Day. The contest, which will be held at the
Millie West Tennis Facility, will be the final
home match in the careers of Tribe seniors
Katie Kargl and
Tori Ford.
#42 VCU 6, William and Mary 1
Singles
No. 1 - #118
Maria Belaya (W&M) def. Ana Bara (VCU) - 6-2,
6-0
No. 2 - Alex Bara (VCU) def.
Jeltje Loomans (W&M) - 5-7,
6-3, 6-2
No. 3 - Olga Terteac (VCU) def.
Hope Johnson (W&M) - 6-2,
6-0
No. 4 - Alena Gerasimova (VCU) def.
Nina Vulovich (W&M)
- 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (1)
No. 5 - Salome Knitashvili (VCU) def.
Anik Cepeda (W&M)
- 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 - Marketa Placha (VCU) def.
Katie Kargl (W&M) - 6-2,
6-1
Finishing Order: 3, 1, 6, 5*, 2, 4
Doubles
No. 1 - #24 Belaya/Loomans (W&M) def. Alex Bara/Ana Bara
(VCU) - 8-2
No. 2 - Terteac/Yakauleva (VCU) def. Cepeda/Johnson
(W&M) - 8-6
No. 3 - Gerasimova/Kvitashvili (VCU) def. Kargl/Vulovich
(W&M) - 8-6
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 2*
