WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Celebrating Senior Day, the William and Mary women's tennis team closed out the regular season with a 6-1 setback to VCU on Sunday afternoon at the
Millie West Tennis Facility. After claiming the doubles point to start the match, the Tribe honored its senior trio of
Maria Belaya,
Hope Johnson and
Sydney Smith for their contributions to the Green and Gold program, which includes a pair of CAA Championships in 2011 and 2013. W&M fell to 3-14 on the year, while VCU evened its ledger at 9-9.
The Tribe rallied to take the doubles points to open the match with identical 8-6 scorelines at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. After VCU jumped out to an early lead with a victory at the top spot, the Tribe answered with a win at No. 2 from sophomore
Julia Casselbury and freshman
Nabila Farah to pull even. The Green and Gold pair traded breaks with VCU's Salome Kvitashvili and Olga Terteac, before winning the final two games to claim their first win, 8-6.
The match came down to the No. 3 spot in a matchup between senior
Hope Johnson and sophomore
Leeza Nemchinov against the Ram pair of Cindy Chala and Ludivine Burguiere. Johnson, who was appearing in her first match of the season after being hampered due to injury, provided a spark in her return to the lineup as W&M raced out to a 7-2 lead. VCU won four straight games to close out within 7-6, but Johnson served out the win as Nemchinov's winner down the line gave the Tribe an 8-6 win and the doubles point. It marked the 36th career doubles victory for Johnson.
VCU answered by winning all six singles positions to claim the victory. The most exciting match of the day was at No. 1 where Nemchinov and Chala battled three sets. After the VCU junior took the opening set, 6-4, Nemchinov rallied from a 5-4 deficit in the second by winning the final three games for a 7-5 victory.
In the third-set super tiebreaker, Chala, who has been ranked as high as No. 50 nationally this season, jumped out to a 5-1 lead, only to see Nemchinov win five straight points to surge in front, 6-5. With the tiebreaker even at seven, Chala won two straight points to take a 9-7 advantage, and despite Nemchinov fighting off one match point, the Ram held on for the 10-8 victory.
For the second straight season and eighth time overall, the Tribe will host the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, April 18-20, at the Millie West Tennis Facility. W&M is the defending CAA Champion and has won 22 of the league's 29 all-time titles. The official seeding and match times will be released early next week by the CAA. Stay tuned to TribeAthletics.com for more information.
VCU 6, William and Mary 1
Singles
No. 2 – #112 Yukako Noi (VCU) def.
Mélanie Roy (W&M) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 – Daria Yakauleva (VCU) def.
Sydney Smith (W&M) – 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 – Salome Kvitashvili (VCU) def.
Nabila Farah (W&M) – 7-5, 6-4
No. 6 – Ludivine Burguiere (VCU) def.
Jackie Lee (W&M) – 6-2 , 6-0
Finishing Order: 5, 6, 2, 3*, 4, 1
Doubles
No. 1 – Barscheuskaya/Yakauleva (VCU) def. Roy/Smith (W&M) – 8-1
No. 2 – Casselbury/Farah (W&M) def. Kvitashvili/Terteac (VCU) – 8-6
No. 3 – Johnson/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Chala/Burguiere (VCU) – 8-6
Finishing Order: 1, 2, 3*
