WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team dropped a nailbiting 4-3 decision to No. 2-ranked Duke on Sunday afternoon at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, but in the process served notice nationally that it will be a force to be reckoned with in 2015. The Tribe won the doubles point, and the match came down to a trio of three-set matches, including an impressive win by junior
Leeza Nemchinov over a two-time All-American at the No. 1 spot. The Blue Devils thwarted the Tribe's upset attempt, winning four of the six singles matches to pick up their season-opening victory, while W&M dropped to 1-1 during its opening weekend.
“Duke is a great team and we were grateful for the opportunity to compete against them today,” head coach
Tyler Thomson said. “What this W&M team is accomplishing is really remarkable. On paper we had no business coming this close to beating the #2 team in the nation, but the awesome effort and discipline that our team exhibited made it a winnable match. This is a great group and we are all very excited to see what we can accomplish this season.”
Duke answered the Tribe's doubles win with a trio of straight set wins at the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6 singles posts to take a 3-1 lead. The balance of the match came down to three-set tilts at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5.
In the match of the day at the top spot, Nemchinov blitzed Duke's Beatrice Capra, 6-2, in the first set, before the Blue Devil All-American, who finished last year ranked No. 5 nationally, won the second set by a matching 6-2 score. In the decisive third, Nemchinov jumped out to a commanding 4-1 lead, but Capra charge back to tie the match at four. After Nemchinov held serve to take the lead, the Tribe junior broke Capra at love in the final game to pick up the 6-4 triumph. The win pushed Nemchinov's season mark to 10-2, including victories in each of her first two matches at the No. 1 position. Along with being a two-time All-American, Capra advanced to the third round of the 2011 U.S. Open as a junior player prior to enrolling at Duke.
Along with Nemchinov's victory, freshman
Maria Groener made it two three-set wins for the Tribe as she rallied at the No. 5 position. After Duke's Annie Mulholland won the opening set, 6-4, the Tribe rookie bounced back with a 6-4 victory in the second set. Groener outlasted her senior counterpart, 6-4, in the decisive third set for her sixth straight victory. She improved to 9-4 overall on the season.
In a match-up of standout freshmen at No. 4, Duke's Samantha Harris squeaked past the Tribe's
Olivia Thaler in a three-set war. The No. 55-ranked player in the country took the opening set, 6-4, before Thaler rallied to take the second in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5). Harris held off Thaler's charge in the third set, pulling out a narrow 6-4 win to clinch the team victory for the Blue Devils.
The Tribe opened the match by taking the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. The rookie pair of Groener and Thaler gave W&M the early advantage with their second straight win at the No. 3 slot. After falling behind early, 2-1, the Tribe tandem rallied by winning four of the final five games to defeat Rebecca Smaller and Alyssa Smith, 6-3.
Duke countered with a 6-4 win at No. 2, leaving the doubles point up to the clash at the top spot. Senior
Jeltje Loomans and Nemchinov jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but the Blue Devil team of Annie Mulholland and Ester Goldfeld won two straight games to close to 5-4 with serve. The Tribe duo broke Goldfeld at love in the 10th game, and W&M clinched the initial point of the match with a 6-4 triumph. Loomans and Nemchinov improved to 7-2 on the year. It marked the 91st victory of Loomans' collegiate career, and she moved into a tie for 10th on the Tribe's all-time list with Kari Olsen (1999-03).
The Tribe continues its four-match homestand with a pair of matches next week. The Green and Gold welcomes Morgan State to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Friday, Jan. 23, at 5 p.m. W&M wraps up its stretch of four-straight home matches against Big Ten foe Penn State on Sunday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m.
#2 Duke 4, William and Mary 3
Singles
No. 2 – #87 Ester Goldfeld (Duke) def. #80
Jeltje Loomans (W&M) – 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – Rachel Kahan (Duke) def.
Mélanie Roy (W&M) – 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 – #55 Samantha Harris (Duke) def.
Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4
No. 5 –
Maria Groener (W&M) def. Annie Mulholland (Duke) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 6, 4*, 1, 5
Doubles
No. 1 – Loomans/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Mulholland/Goldfeld (Duke) – 6-4
No. 2 – Harris/Capra (Duke) def. Casselbury/Roy (W&M) – 6-4
No. 3 – Thaler/Groener (W&M) def. Smaller/Smith (Duke) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 3, 2, 1*
