Norfolk, Va. - The No. 4-seeded William and Mary women's
tennis team dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to No. 5-seeded Old Dominion in the
CAA Quarterfinals at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on Friday afternoon. ODU
took the doubles point and led 3-1, before W&M recorded back-to-back wins
at the No. 2 and No. 5 singles posts to tie the contest. The Monarchs clinched
the upset with a win at No. 3.
After ODU took the doubles point with victories at the top
two spots, senior
Katie Kargl pulled the College even with a convincing victory
at the No. 6 slot. She won for the fourth time in her last five matches,
blitzing the Monarchs' Faith Atiso, 6-1, 6-1, for her team-leading 15th singles
win of the year.
Old Dominion responded with victories at the No. 1 and No. 4
posts to push its advantage to 3-1, requiring the College to win the final
three singles matches on the court in order to advance to the semifinals.
Sophomore
Jeltje Loomans and junior
Anik Cepeda answered with wins at the No. 2
and No. 5 singles positions, respectively, to tie the match at three.
Loomans took the opening set, 6-2, from ODU's Aleksandra
Mitrovska, before the Monarch player jumped out to a break advantage at 4-3 in
the second. The Tribe sophomore rallied to win the final three games on the way
to her 10th singles win of the year. She also won for the fifth time in her
last six matches.
Cepeda recorded her 10th win of the year in straight sets at
No. 5. She rolled to a 6-1 win in the opening set over Juliana Pires, before
outlasting her Monarch counterpart, 7-5, in the second. It marked Cepeda's
second straight win and the third in her last four matches.
The balance of the match came down to the No. 3 slot where
junior
Nina Vulovich was battling ODU's Melissa Esnal Olguin. The Monarch
player took the opening set, 6-4, while the second set went to a tiebreaker.
Esnal Olguin jumped out to the early 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, before
Vulovich rallied to even the breaker at both 6-all and 7-all. Esnal Olguin though
clinched the Monarch upset, winning the final two points to take the
tiebreaker, 9-7.
W&M closed the year at 6-16. ODU advanced to meet No.
1-seeded VCU in the semifinals on Saturday, while improving to 13-9 with its
third straight win.
Old Dominion 4, William and Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 - Diana Ivanova (ODU) def.
Maria Belaya (W&M) -
6-4, 6-4
No. 2 -
Jeltje Loomans (W&M) def. Aleksandra Mitrovska
(ODU) - 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 - Melissa Esnal Olguin (ODU) def.
Nina Vulovich
(W&M) - 6-4, 7-6 (7)
No. 4 - Nika Khmolovska (ODU) def.
Hope Johnson (W&M) -
6-0, 6-4
No. 5 -
Anik Cepeda (W&M) def. Juliana Pires (ODU) -
6-1, 7-5
No. 6 -
Katie Kargl (W&M) def. Faith Atiso (ODU) - 6-1,
6-1
Finishing Order: 6, 1, 4, 2, 5, 3*
Doubles
No. 1 - Ivanova/Mitrovska (ODU) def. Johnson/Loomans
(W&M) - 8-3
No. 2 - Esnal Olguin/ Khmolovska (ODU) def. Belaya/Cepeda
(W&M) - 8-6
No. 3 - Kargl/Vulovich (W&M) vs. Pires/Atiso (ODU)
- 6-6, DNF
Finishing Order: 1, 2*