NORFOLK, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team suffered a 4-3 setback in an Optima Health Challenge match-up with Old Dominion at the Folks Stevens Tennis Center on Friday evening. After ODU took the doubles point, the match came down to the pair of three-set matches at No. 1 and No. 3. Despite singles wins from sophomore
Leeza Nemchinov and freshmen
Mélanie Roy and
Nabila Farah, the Monarchs claimed the 10 points in the all-sports competition between two schools with a three-set win at No. 1. W&M fell to 3-11 on the year, while ODU improved to 8-4.
ODU started things off by taking the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. After jumping out to the early lead with an 8-1 win at No. 3, the initial point of the match came down to a pair of tight contests at the top two spots. With the No. 2 slot even at seven in a tiebreaker, the Monarchs took a 1-0 advantage with an 8-6 win at the top position.
In singles play, the Green and Gold pulled out a pair of convincing wins at the No. 2 and No. 4 posts. Nemchionv rolled to her fifth win at the second spot, upending Ingrid Vojcinakova, 6-2, 6-0. The Tribe sophomore improved to 16-11 on the year.
At No. 4, Farah dropped just two games in bouncing Ivana Vukovic, 6-1, 6-1. She notched her sixth dual-match win of the season and 12th triumph overall. ODU countered with straight-sets wins at No. 5 and No. 6, while the match came down to a pair of three-set matches at No. 1 and No. 3.
After dropping a first-set tiebreaker to ODU's Marijana Novakovic, Roy rebounded to pull out the victory at No. 3. She claimed the second set, 6-3, before rolling to a 6-1 win in the third. It marked Roy's third victory in the last four matches and 12th overall on the year.
ODU claimed the match with a three-set win at No. 1. Senior
Maria Belaya and Nikol Hristova split the first two sets by matching 6-2 scores, before the Monarch player clinched the team triumph with a 6-2 victory in the third set.
With the win, ODU narrowed W&M's lead in the Optima Health Challenge to 40-30. The Optima Health Challegne is an all-sport competition between the two Hampton Roads schools in its third season. There are 30 points remaining in the challenge with 10 points available in both men's tennis and lacrosse as well as five points on the line in each of the two baseball games between the programs. The first team with 55 points will claim the Optima Health Trophy.
The Tribe returns to action when it hosts a pair of nationally-ranked opponents next weekend at the
Millie West Tennis Facility. W&M hosts No. 23 Rice on Friday, March 28, at 3 p.m., before welcoming No. 53 Yale to Williamsburg on Sunday, March 30, at 11 a.m.
Old Dominion 4, William and Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 – Nikol Hristova (ODU) def. #90
Maria Belaya (W&M) – 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 –
Mélanie Roy (W&M) def. Marijana Novakovic (ODU) – 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 –
Nabila Farah (W&M) def. Ivana Vukovic (ODU) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 – Nika Khmolovska (ODU) def.
Sydney Smith (W&M) – 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 – Hristova/Esnal Olguin (ODU) def. Belaya/Farah (W&M) – 8-6
No. 2 – Roy/Smith (W&M) vs. Vojlinakova/Novakovic (ODU) – DNF, 7-7
No. 3 – Khmolovska/Vukovic (ODU) def. Casselbury/Nemchinov (W&M) – 8-1
