WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary women's tennis dropped a heartbreaker to Liberty, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon. The Tribe won the doubles point and received singles wins from senior
Mila Saric and junior
Elisa Van Meeteren, but the Flames won at three-set match at No. 5 to pick up the win.
The Tribe claimed a hotly-contested doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Juniors
Elisa Van Meeteren and
Raffaela Alhach picked up their fourth victory of the year, topping Esther Lovato and Maretha Burger, 6-4, on line two.
The initial point of the match came down to a tiebreaker battle at No. 3. The Tribe's rookie duo of
Emma Fernald and
Ine Stange rallied from an early deficit in the breaker to outlast Willa Rogers and Micaela Ode Mitre, 7-6 (9). They evened their season record at 3-3.
Saric won in straight sets at the top singles spot, but the Flames responded with three wins of their own at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 to take the lead. Saric ran her mark to 15-4 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Alexandra Almborg.
The balance of the match came down to a pair of three-set matches at No. 3 and No. 5. Van Meeteren topped Willa Rogers, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to draw the Tribe even at three. The Tribe junior won her seventh match of the year and her third at No. 3.
At No. 5, Stange rallied from a set deficit, taking the second from Tiffany Nguyen, 6-3. The Flame player clinched the team victory with a 6-1 triumph in the third.
Up Next: The Tribe returns to action on Sunday when it hosts No. 26 Iowa State at 11 a.m. at the Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Courts.
Liberty 4, William & Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 –
Mila Saric (W&M) def. Alexandra Almborg (LU) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 - Maria Juliana Parra Romero (LU) def.
Hedda Gurholt (W&M) – 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 – Elisa Van Meetern (W&M) def. Willa Rogers (LU) – 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
No. 4 – Esther Lovato (LU) def.
Raffaela Alhach (W&M) – 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 – Tiffany Nguyen (LU) def.
Ine Stange (W&M) – 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
No. 6 – Micaela Ode Mitre (LU) def.
Lisa Fukutoku (W&M) –6-1, 6-0
Finishing Order: 6, 4, 1, 2, 3, 5*
Doubles
No. 1 – Nguyen/Parra Romeo (LU) def. Saric/Gurholt (W&M) – 7-5
No. 2 – Van Meeteren/Alhach (W&M) def. Burger/Lovato (LU) – 6-4
No. 3 – Fernald/Stange (W&M) def. Rogers/Ode Mitre (LU) – 7-6 (9)
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*
