WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at the
Millie West Tennis Facility with a resounding 4-1 win over No. 71-ranked Old Dominion. On the day to honor her contributions to the Tribe program as its lone senior,
Jeltje Loomans put her stamp on the victory, moving into fourth on the Tribe's career doubles wins list and posting her 21st singles win at No. 2. W&M improved to 13-6 overall with the victory in its final tune-up before next week's CAA Championship, while ODU, which was coming off a 7-0 win over No. 48 Marshall on Friday, saw its eight-match win streak snapped in falling to 14-5.
The Tribe claimed the doubles point with a pair of 8-5 wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Loomans and junior
Leeza Nemchinov, who are ranked No. 45 nationally, broke open a 4-3 match with wins in the eighth and ninth games at No. 1 on the way to an 8-5 win over Borislava Botusharova and Adriana Rajkovic. It marked Loomans and Nemchinov's ninth win in the last 10 matches as they improved to 21-4 overall and 15-3 at No. 1. The win was also the 105th of Loomans' career in doubles play, moving her into a tie with W&M Athletics Hall of Famer Lauren Nikolaus (1994-98) for fourth on the Tribe's career list.
Junior
Julia Casselbury and sophomore
Mélanie Roy jumped out to a commanding 5-0 advantage over ODU's Ivana Vukovic and Ingrid Vojcinakova at No. 3 on the way to a clinching 8-5 victory. It marked the Green and Gold pair's fifth win of the season and third in dual-match competition.
Freshman
Olivia Thaler and Loomans posted straight set wins to push the W&M lead to 3-0. Thaler won for the fifth time in her last six matches, handling Marijana Novakovic, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 3. She improved to 9-3 at the third spot and 19-11 overall. Loomans bounced Nikol Hristova, 6-3, 7-5, at the No. 2 position. The Tribe senior upped her season ledger to 21-7 overall and 13-5 at No. 2. It was the 65th singles win of Loomans' career.
After an ODU win at No. 4, Nemchinov rallied from a set deficit to upend ODU's Borislava Botusharova in a match-up of nationally-ranked players at the No. 1 spot. The No. 98-ranked Botusharova, who toted an impressive 33-6 singles record into the match, claimed the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), before the No. 51-ranked Nemchionv answered with a tiebreaker victory of her own in the second set, 7-6 (5).
The Tribe junior carried the momentum over from the second set into the third, rolling to a 6-1 win, clinching the Tribe victory in the process. Nemchinov ran her season mark to 24-3 overall and 16-1 at No. 1 with her fourth straight victory. It also marked her third win over nationally-ranked competition during the spring. The loss for Botusharova was her first of the season in 17 matches at No. 1 singles.
W&M returns to action when its hosts the Colonial Athletic Association Championship at the Millie West Tennis Facility next week. Competition gets underway with one first-round match on Thursday, April 16, before the quarterfinals on Friday, April 17, at 9 a.m. and noon. The CAA semifinals and championship are set for 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The seeding for the championship will be released early next week.
#62 William and Mary 4, #71 Old Dominion 1
Singles
No. 1 – #51
Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) def. #98 Borislava Botusharova (ODU) – 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-1
No. 3 –
Olivia Thaler (W&M) def. Marijana Novakovic (ODU) – 7-5, 6-3
No. 4 – Ingrid Vojcinakova (ODU) def.
Mélanie Roy (W&M) – 1-6, 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 –
Maria Groener (W&M) vs. Adriana Rajkovic (ODU) – DNF, 6-2
Finsihing Order: 3, 2, 4, 1*
Doubles
No. 1 – #45 Loomans/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Botusharova/Rajkovic (ODU) – 8-5
No. 2 – Groener/Thaler (W&M) vs. Hristova/Novakovic (ODU) – DNF, 7-7
No. 3 – Casselbury/Roy (W&M) def. Vukovic/Vojcinakova (ODU) – 8-5
Finishing Order: 1, 3*
