Friday, 04/20/2012

Norfolk, Va. - The No. 4-seeded William and Mary women's tennis team dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to No. 5-seeded Old Dominion in the CAA Quarterfinals at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on Friday afternoon. ODU took the doubles point and led 3-1, before W&M recorded back-to-back wins at the No. 2 and No. 5 singles posts to tie the contest. The Monarchs clinched the upset with a win at No. 3.

After ODU took the doubles point with victories at the top two spots, senior Katie Kargl pulled the College even with a convincing victory at the No. 6 slot. She won for the fourth time in her last five matches, blitzing the Monarchs' Faith Atiso, 6-1, 6-1, for her team-leading 15th singles win of the year.

Old Dominion responded with victories at the No. 1 and No. 4 posts to push its advantage to 3-1, requiring the College to win the final three singles matches on the court in order to advance to the semifinals. Sophomore Jeltje Loomans and junior Anik Cepeda answered with wins at the No. 2 and No. 5 singles positions, respectively, to tie the match at three.

Loomans took the opening set, 6-2, from ODU's Aleksandra Mitrovska, before the Monarch player jumped out to a break advantage at 4-3 in the second. The Tribe sophomore rallied to win the final three games on the way to her 10th singles win of the year. She also won for the fifth time in her last six matches.

Cepeda recorded her 10th win of the year in straight sets at No. 5. She rolled to a 6-1 win in the opening set over Juliana Pires, before outlasting her Monarch counterpart, 7-5, in the second. It marked Cepeda's second straight win and the third in her last four matches.

The balance of the match came down to the No. 3 slot where junior Nina Vulovich was battling ODU's Melissa Esnal Olguin. The Monarch player took the opening set, 6-4, while the second set went to a tiebreaker. Esnal Olguin jumped out to the early 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, before Vulovich rallied to even the breaker at both 6-all and 7-all. Esnal Olguin though clinched the Monarch upset, winning the final two points to take the tiebreaker, 9-7.

W&M closed the year at 6-16. ODU advanced to meet No. 1-seeded VCU in the semifinals on Saturday, while improving to 13-9 with its third straight win.

Old Dominion 4, William and Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 - Diana Ivanova (ODU) def. Maria Belaya (W&M) - 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 - Jeltje Loomans (W&M) def. Aleksandra Mitrovska (ODU) - 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 - Melissa Esnal Olguin (ODU) def. Nina Vulovich (W&M) - 6-4, 7-6 (7)
No. 4 - Nika Khmolovska (ODU) def. Hope Johnson (W&M) - 6-0, 6-4
No. 5 - Anik Cepeda (W&M) def. Juliana Pires (ODU) - 6-1, 7-5
No. 6 - Katie Kargl (W&M) def. Faith Atiso (ODU) - 6-1, 6-1
Finishing Order: 6, 1, 4, 2, 5, 3*

Doubles
No. 1 - Ivanova/Mitrovska (ODU) def. Johnson/Loomans (W&M) - 8-3
No. 2 - Esnal Olguin/ Khmolovska (ODU) def. Belaya/Cepeda (W&M) - 8-6
No. 3 - Kargl/Vulovich (W&M) vs. Pires/Atiso (ODU) -  6-6, DNF
Finishing Order: 1, 2*