WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team celebrated Senior Day at the
Millie West Tennis Facility with a 4-3 victory over Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon. W&M captured the doubles point, before winning the first three singles matches off the court in claiming the team triumph. Following doubles competition, the Green and Gold honored its two-member senior class of
Anik Cepeda and
Marlen Mesgarzadeh for their contributions to the W&M tennis program. The 41st-ranked Tribe improved to 15-5 overall on the season, while ODU fell to 12-8.
With the victory, the Tribe secured 10 points in the Optima Health Challenge, a running score of all the direct competitions between W&M and ODU. Coupled with ODU win on Saturday in men's tennis, the all-sports competition remains deadlocked at 55 with just 10 points remaining when the schools meet in baseball later this season.
The Green and Gold claimed the doubles point for the second time in as many matches and the 13th time overall on the season with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 posts. Playing together for just the second time, juniors
Jeltje Loomans and
Sydney Smith cruised to their first win at the No. 3 post, breezing past Nika Khmolovska and Ivana Yukovic, 8-2. Cepeda and junior
Hope Johnson won their fourth straight contest, clinching the initial point of the match with an 8-6 win over Juliana Pires and Melissa Ensal Olguin at the No. 2 spot. The Tribe tandem evened its season ledger at 8-8 and improved to 6-2 at No. 2.
Loomans wasted little time pushing the Green and Gold advantage to 2-0 with a convincing win at the No. 4 singles position. The Tribe junior won all but one game in a convincing 6-0, 6-1 victory over Juliana Pires. Loomans improved to 11-10 on the season with her 10th dual-match win of the season.
Freshman
Leeza Nemchinov continued her impressive rookie campaign as she improved to 7-2 at No. 2 with a straight-sets win. She rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Ivana Yukovic for her 22nd singles victory of the season.
Junior
Maria Belaya, who moved into the national singles rankings last week at No. 124 in the country, put the finishing touches on the Tribe's 15th team victory of the season with a win at the top position. Belaya bounced Diana Ivanova, 7-5, 7-5, for her 11th win of the season at No. 1. The Tribe junior also upped her season ledger to 19-11 with the victory.
The Tribe will await its seed in the 2013 CAA Tennis Championship, which will be released on Tuesday, April 16. The top seed, which W&M has a good chance of garnering, will receive a bye into the semifinals. The CAA Tennis Championship will be hosted by William and Mary at the Millie West Tennis Facility, April 19-21. Check back with TribeAthletics.com for compete seeding and match times for the 2013 Championship event.
#41 William and Mary 4, Old Dominion 3
Singles
No. 1 – #124
Maria Belaya (W&M) def. Diana Ivanova (ODU) – 7-5, 7-5
No. 3 – Nikol Hristova (ODU) def.
Anik Cepeda (W&M) – 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
No. 5 – Melissa Esnal Olguin (ODU) def.
Hope Johnson (W&M) – 5-4, retire
No. 6 – Nika Khmolovska (ODU) def.
Sydney Smith (W&M) – 6-4, 6-2
Finishing Order: 4, 2, 1*, 5, 3, 6
Doubles
No. 1 – Belaya/Nemchinov (W&M) vs. Hristova/Ivanova (ODU) – 5-4, DNF
No. 2 – Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) def. Pires/Esnal Olguin (ODU) – 8-6
No. 3 – Loomans/Smith (W&M) def. Khmolovska/Vukovic (ODU) – 8-2
Finishing Order: 3, 2*
