College Tennis News - Tribe Rolls Streaking ETSU in First Home Outdoor Match

The Tribe swept the doubles point and received singles wins from Marlen Mesgarzadeh, Carmen Pop, Nina Vulovich and Anik Cepeda in tallying the 5-2 win.
Williamsburg (3/17/10) - The William and Mary women’s tennis team silenced a streaking East Tennessee State team, 5-2, on Wednesday afternoon at the Busch Tennis Courts. In its first home outdoor match of the season, the Green and Gold swept the double point, before winning four of the first five singles matches off the court to pull out the win. The College improves to 6-8 on the year, while ETSU, who entered on a seven-match winning streak, fell to 8-3.

W&M jumped out to the early lead by sweeping the doubles point as two of the Tribe’s two doubles teams played together for the first time this season. One of those teams, senior Ragini Acharya and freshman Marlen Mesgarzadeh turned in an impressive showing with an 8-5 upset win over the No. 78-ranked team nationally of Kelly Holtzhausen and Yevgeiya Stupak at the top doubles slot. At the No. 2 position, the Green and Gold tandem of senior Carmen Pop and freshman Anik Cepda downed Paula Jaime and Karina Kedzo, 8-3, to improve to 14-7 on the season with their ninth dual-match win. Junior Lauren Sabacinski and freshman Nina Vulovich rounded out the sweep with their first win, upending Diana Navrostska and Tara Sheets, 8-4.

Mesgarzadeh, Pop, Vulovich and Cepeda each tallied singles wins to clinch the Tribe team triumph. At the No. 2 slot, Mesgarzadeh breezed past Holtzhausen, 6-2, 6-0 to improve to 12-9 on the season. Pop continued her impressive play with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jaime at the No. 3 spot. The victory ran her winning streak to 11 matches as she improved to a team-best 19-7 overall and 13-1 in dual-match play.

Vulovich tallied her second-straight victory and 14th overall with a dominating straight-sets performance. She easily disposed of Navrostska, 6-2, 6-0, at the No. 4 slot. Cepeda rounded out the singles wins with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Sheets at the No. 6 spot. Cepeda ran her season mark to 16-12 overall.

The Tribe returns to action with two matches against ACC competition over the weekend. W&M will host No. 52 Wake Forest on Saturday, March 20, at noon. The College will conclude the weekend with a Sunday, March 21, tilt versus No. 5 Duke at 10 a.m. The Tribe-Blue Devil contest is a make up from a match that was rained out in Puerto Rico last week. Both matches will be played at the Busch Tennis Courts, weather permitting.

#71 William and Mary 5, East Tennessee State 2
Singles
No. 1 – Yevgeniya Stupak (ETSU) def. Ragini Acharya (W&M) – 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 – Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) def. Kelly Holtzhausen (ETSU) – 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 – Carmen Pop (W&M) def. Paula Jaime (ETSU) – 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 – Nina Vulovich (W&M) def. Diana Navrostska (ETSU) – 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 – Andra Voinea (ETSU) def. Katie Kargl (W&M) – 4-6, 7-5, 10-2
No. 6 – Anik Cepda (W&M) def. Tara Sheets (ETSU) – 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
No. 1 – Acharya/Mesgarzadeh (W&M) def. #78 Holtzhausen/Stupak (ETSU) – 8-5
No. 2 – Cepda/Pop (W&M) def. Jaime/Kedzo (ETSU) – 8-3
No. 3 – Sabacinski/Vulovich (W&M) def. Navrostska/Sheets (ETSU) – 8-4