RICHMOND, Va. – Playing its first match of the 2021 season, the William & Mary women's tennis team suffered a 7-0 setback at VCU on Sunday afternoon. In comparison, the Rams played their eighth match of the year and evened their ledger at 4-4.
 
How It Happened
- After VCU won at the top doubles post, graduate student Jill van den Dungen and sophomore Raffaela Alhach answered with a win on line two. The Tribe tandem upended Paola Exposito Diaz-Delgado and Noumea Witmus, 6-2, to pull W&M even.
- The Rams took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles.
- VCU notched straight-sets wins at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5 singles to cement the team victory.
- At No. 2 and No. 3 singles, juniors Mila Saric and Lisa Fukutoka jumped out to leads with first set victories. Saric topped VCU's Luminita Tutunaru, 7-5, while Fukutoka claimed the opening set from Alessia Beatrice Ciuca, 6-4. Unfortunately, both Ram players rallied to win the final two sets. Tutunaru claimed the No. 2 spot, 6-1, 6-4, while Ciuca won at No. 3, 6-3, 7-5.
 
Up Next
The Tribe will play a pair of matches on Saturday, Feb. 27. W&M travels to Old Dominion at 10 a.m., before returning home to square off with Morgan State at 5 p.m. inside the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. Live stats and video of the matchup with the Bears will be available at TribeAthletics.com.
 
VCU 7, William & Mary 0
Singles
No. 1 - Paola Exposito Diaz-Delgado (VCU) def. Jill van den Dungen (W&M) – 6-2, 7-5
No. 2 – Luminita Tutunaru (VCU) def. Mila Saric (W&M) – 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 – Alessia Beatrice Ciuca (VCU) def. Lisa Fukutoka (W&M) – 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 4 - Gabriela Ana-Maria Davidescu (VCU) def. Vitoria Okuyama (W&M) – 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 - Noumea Witmus (VCU) def. Elisa Van Meeteren (W&M) – 6-0, 6-3
No. 6 - Shivani Manganna (VCU) def. Alisa Manolescu (W&M) – 6-4, 6-4
Finishing Order: 5, 4, 1*, 2, 3, 6
 
Doubles
No. 1 – Davidescu/Tutunaru (VCU) def. Saric/Van Meeteren (W&M) – 6-2
No. 2 – van den Dungen/Alhach def. Diaz-Delgado/Witmus (VCU) – 6-2
No. 3 – Manganna/Ciuca (VCU) def. Okuyama/Manolescu (W&M) – 6-3
Finishing Order: 1, 2, 3*