Monday, 04/20/2009

Junior Carmen Pop tallied her 20th singles win of the season with a victory at the No. 4 singles spot.
Norfolk, Va. (4/18/09) - The William and Mary women's tennis team dropped its Colonial Athletic Association semifinal, 4-1, to No. 2-seeded VCU on Saturday afternoon at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center. Junior Carmen Pop tallied the lone Tribe point on the afternoon with a victory at the No. 4 singles slot. The was a lot closer than the final result as the Rams won two of the final four singles matches, all of which went to three sets. The Green and Gold wrapped up the seasons at 10-12 overall, while the Rams advanced to the conference title match against Georgia State on Sunday.

The initial point of the match came down to the No. 2 doubles slot. The Green and Gold defaulted at the No. 3 doubles position, before the Tribe's No. 1 pairing of senior Katarina Zoricic and junior Ragini Acharya knotting things with an 8-4 triumph over Ana Bara and Laura Burns. The No. 43-ranked team in the country improved to 15-10 on the year with the win. At the No. 2 slot, the VCU team of Alex Bara and Kateryn Yergina jumped out to a 6-1 lead over senior Klaudyna Kasztelaniec and junior Carmen Pop. The Tribe tandem bounced back to close to within 6-4 and had a pair of break points to get back on serve. The Ram duo was able to hold the advantage, before clinching the doubles point with an 8-5 win.

After VCU claimed the first singles match at the No. 2 spot, Pop closed the VCU lead to 2-1 with a straight sets win over Alex Bara at the No. 4 spot. The Tribe junior avenged a pair of losses to Bara from earlier this season with a 6-3, 6-2 win. Pop closed the season, winning eight of her final 10 matches, while improving to 20-12.

The match came down to four three-set singles matches. The Rams were able to pull out the team triumph with a pair of come-from-behind victories at the No. 1 and No. 5 singles positions.

The Tribe's No. 1 doubles team of Zoricic and Acharya will await to hear word on the NCAA Doubles Championship field. As the highest ranked doubles team in the CAA entering the week, the Tribe pair could earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Individual Championship fields will be released on Wednesday, April 29.

VCU 4, William and Mary 1
Singles
No. 1 - Ana Bara (VCU) def. Katarina Zoricic (W&M) - 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 - Kateryna Yergina (VCU) def. #119 Ragini Acharya (W&M) - 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 - Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) vs. Laura Burns (VCU) - DNF
No. 4 - Carmen Pop (W&M) def. Alex Bara (VCU) - 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 - Olena Leonchuk (VCU) def. Barbara Zidek (W&M) - 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 - Katie Kargl (W&M) vs. Michaela Bunea (VCU) - DNF
Finishing Order: 2, 4, 5, 1*

Doubles
No. 1 - #43 Acharya/Zoricic (W&M) def. Ana Bara/Burns (VCU) - 8-4
No. 2 - Alex Bara/Yergina (VCU) def. Kasztelaniec/Pop (W&M) - 8-5
No. 3 - VCU won by default
Finishing Order: 3, 1, 2*