CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team's turnaround season came to an end in the opening round of the NCAA Championship to Big 12 Champion and No. 18-ranked Texas on Saturday morning at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Longhorns rallied to claim the doubles point, and despite junior
Jeltje Loomans and senior
Anik Cepeda taking opening sets at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, UT won at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 to advance to the second round. W&M closed out the year at 17-6 and won its 22nd CAA Championship in head coach
Tyler Thomson's first season.
W&M jumped out to an early advantage in doubles competition with leads at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions, but it was Texas that won the first pairs match at the No. 2 post. The Tribe duo of junior
Maria Belaya and freshman
Leeza Nemchinov jumped out to a 4-0 cushion at No. 1 over the No. 19 ranked team in the country of Breanunna Addison and Noel Scott, while W&M juniors
Jeltje Loomans and
Sydney Smith jumped out to a 3-1 advantage at No. 3. Addison and Noel rallied though, winning the final six games at the top slot to clinch the initial point of the match for the Longhorns.
Texas pushed its lead to 3-0 with straight-sets wins at the No. 1 and No. 5 singles positions, before the Tribe produced a bit of a rally. Loomans took the opening set, 6-1, from Elizabeth Begley at No. 3, while Cepeda fought off an early break to win the first in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (3), over Noel Scott at No. 4. The Longhorns though closed it out as No. 37-ranked Breaunna Addison downed freshman
Leeza Nemchinov, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 2.
The Longhorns will face No. 14 Virginia, who was a 4-0 winner of Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round, on Sunday for a spot in the NCAA Round of 16. Juniors
Maria Belaya and
Jeltje Loomans will take part in the NCAA Individual Championships, May 22-27, at the Khan Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. Belaya will compete in the NCAA Singles Championship, while her and Loomans, who are ranked No. 13 nationally in doubles, will compete in the NCAA Doubles Championship at the event.
#18 Texas 4, #44 William and Mary 0
Singles
No. 1 – #37 Aeriel Ellis (Texas) def.
Maria Belaya (W&M) – 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 –
Jeltje Loomans (W&M) vs. Elizabeth Begley (Texas) – DNF, 6-1, 2-6, 1-1
No. 4 –
Anik Cepeda (W&M) vs. Noel Scott (Texas) – DNF, 7-6 (3), 1-2
No. 5 – Lina Padegimaite (Texas) def.
Hope Johnson (W&M) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 – Lana Groenvynck (Texas) vs.
Sydney Smith (W&M) – DNF, 7-5, 1-0
Finishing Order: 1, 5, 2*
Doubles
No. 1 – #19 Addison/Scott (Texas) def. Belaya/Nemchinov (W&M) – 8-6
No. 2 – Begley/Ellis (Texas) def. Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) – 8-2
No. 3 – Loomans/Smith (W&M) vs. Rabinovich/Padegimaite (Texas) – DNF, 7-7
Finishing: 2, 1*
