HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The No. 52 William and Mary women's tennis team suffered its second straight difficult loss, falling to Marshall, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore
Mélanie Roy and freshman
Maria Groener posted singles wins for the Green and Gold, but Marshall countered with the doubles point and a trio of singles wins, including a three-set triumph at No. 3, to secure the win. W&M fell to 12-6 on the year, while Marshall improved to 14-7.
The duo of senior
Jeltje Loomans and junior
Leeza Nemchinov started W&M off on the right foot with a win at No. 1 in doubles competition. The Green and Gold pair upended Anna Pomyatinskaya and Derya Turhan, 6-4, for their third straight victory. Loomans and Nemchinov improved to 20-4 overall and 14-3 at No. 1. Unfortunately, Marshall responded with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to claim the doubles points and take a 1-0 lead.
Roy and Groener posted convincing straight-set wins at the No. 4 and No. 5 singles positions. Roy quickly evened the match at one with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Marshall senior Kai Broomfield at No. 4. She improved to 14-11 overall and 11-6 in dual-match play, while winning for the seventh time in her last nine matches at the No. 4 slot.
After Thundering Herd wins at No. 2 and No. 6, Groener bounced Marija Bogicevic, 6-3, 6-1, at No. 5 for her 19th singles win of the year. The Tribe rookie pushed her dual-match mark to 12-6.
The match came down to the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Nemchinov took the opening set from Derya Turhan at No. 1, while freshman
Olivia Thaler and Marshall's Maddie Silver split sets at No. 3. Silver won the opening set, 6-4, before the Tribe rookie rallied to win the second, 6-2. With Nemchinov and Turhan headed to a second-set tiebreaker, Silver closed out the match by taking the decisive third set from Thaler, 6-3. As a result, the match at No. 1 was abandoned with the team result decided.
The Tribe wraps up the regular season when it hosts Hampton Roads rival and No. 73 Old Dominion on Saturday, April 11, at the
Millie West Tennis Facility. Along with being the final regular season home match, it will be Senior Day as the Green and Gold will honor its lone senior,
Jeltje Loomans.
Marshall 4, #52 William and Mary 2
Singles
No. 1 – #51
Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) vs. Derya Turhan (Marshall) – DNF, 7-6 (6), 6-6
No. 2 – Anna Pomyatinskaya (Marshall) def.
Jeltje Loomans (W&M) – 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 – Maddie Silver (Marshall) def.
Olivia Thaler (W&M) – 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
No. 4 –
Mélanie Roy (W&M) def. Kai Broomfield (Marshall) – 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 –
Maria Groener (W&M) def. Marija Bogicevic (Marshall) – 6-3, 6-1
Finishing Order: 4, 2, 6, 5, 3*
Doubles
No. 1 – #41 Loomans/Nemchinov (W&M) def. Turhan/Pomyatinskaya (Marshall) – 6-4
No. 2 – Broomfield/Bogicevic (Marshall) def. Groener/Thaler (W&M) – 6-3
No. 3 – Silver/Morales (Marshall) def. Casselbury/Wuenscher (W&M) – 6-2
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 2*
