Sunday, 09/16/2012

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team opened the fall season at both the Duke Fab Four Invitational and UVa Fall Classic on Friday. Junior Jeltje Loomans led the way for W&M at Duke as she won her opening round singles match and advanced to the finals of Flight C in doubles along with classmate Maria Belaya. At UVA, both senior Nina Vulovich and junior Sydney Smith recorded singles victories on the opening day of competition.

Belaya and Loomans, who are ranked No. 12 nationally in doubles, tallied a pair of wins in Flight C on Friday. The W&M duo downed North Carolina's Tessa Lyons and Zoe De Bruycker, 8-3, in the opening round, before tallying a 9-7 victory over Illinois' Melissa Kopinski and Rachael White. Belaya and Loomans are an impressive 22-6 over the last two seasons as a doubles team, including victories in 15 of their last 16 matches. The pair will face the No. 43-ranked Duke team of Ester Goldfeld and Annie Mulholland in the championship of Flight C on Saturday at 9 a.m.

In singles action, Loomans rallied for a three-set victory over Furman's Lauren Kline. After Kline took the first set, 6-2, Loomans bounced back with matching 6-1 victories in the second and third sets to claim her first win of the season. The Tribe junior will face No. 55-ranked Caroline Rohde-Moe of Mississippi on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the Blue Flight quarterfinals. Looman's second singles match of the day will be at 1 p.m. against either No. 26-ranked Zoe De Bruycker of North Carolina or Illinois' No. 80-ranked Melissa Kopinski.

At the UVa Fall Classic, Vulovich recorded a three-set win in the consolation side of Flight A-1. After falling to the nation's No. 4-ranked freshman in the opening round, the Tribe senior bounced back with a 6-1, 5-7, 10-8 win over VCU's Darya Yakauleva. Vulovich will face No. 99-ranked Maria Fuccillo of Virginia in the consolation semifinals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

In Flight B, Smith claimed her opening-round match, 6-2, 6-2, over Marshall's Kai Broomfield. The Tribe junior dropped a close three-set match in the quarterfinals, falling to UNC Greensboro's Dilara Yurtkuran, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Smith will meet ODU's Nika Kumolovska in the consolation draw at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The Green and Gold will continue action at both the Duke Fab Four Invite and the UVa Fall Classic on Saturday. The Fab Four Invite will begin with the final round of doubles at 9 a.m., before two rounds of singles are played, starting at 10 a.m. At the UVa event, Saturday will begin with two rounds of doubles action at 9 a.m., before one round of singles at 2:30 p.m.

W&M at the Duke Fab Four Invitational
Blue Singles Bracket
Lauren Kline (Furman) def. Jeltje Loomans (W&M) - 2-6, 6-1, 6-1

Black Singles Bracket
Whitney Kay (North Carolina) def. Hope Johnson (W&M) - 6-3, 6-2

White Singles Bracket
#10 Mary Anne Macfarlane (Alabama) def. Anik Cepeda (W&M) - 6-0, 6-1
Noel Scott (Texas) def. Maria Belaya (W&M) - 6-2, 6-2

Flight B Doubles
#22 Sancu/Sanchez-Quintanar (Texas A&M) def. Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) - 8-3
Hamilton/Li (Yale) def. Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) - 9-7

Flight C Doubles
#12 Belaya/Loomans (W&M) def. Lyons/DeBruycker (North Carolina) - 8-3
#12 Belaya/Loomans (W&M) def. Kopinski/White (Illinois) - 9-7

W&M at the UVa Fall Classic
Flight A-1 Singles
#4F Julia Elbaba (Virginia) def. Nina Vulovich (W&M) - 6-1, 6-0
Nina Vulovich (W&M) def. Darya Yakauleva (VCU) - 6-1, 5-7, 10-8
Caryssa Peretz (Virginia) def. Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) - 6-2, 6-3
Amanda Murray (Furman) def. Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) - 6-3, retire

Flight A-2 Singles
Stephanie Nauta (Virginia) def. Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) - 6-2, 6-3
Olga Barshchevskaya (VCU) def. Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) - 6-3, 6-0

Flight B Singles
Sydney Smith (W&M) def. Kai Broomfield (Marshall) - 6-2, 6-2
Dilara Yurtkuran (UNCG) def. Sydney Smith (W&M) - 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Flight C Singles
Juliana Pires (ODU) def. Jackie Lee (W&M) - 6-3, 6-2
Caitlin Cridland (Winthrop) def. Jackie Lee (W&M) - 6-4, 6-2

Flight A Doubles
Ivanova/Mitrovska (ODU) def. Mezgarzadeh/Nemchinov (W&M) - 8-3

Flight B Doubles
Sullivan/Porter (Furman) def. Vulovich/Smith (W&M) - 8-5