William and Mary (3-7) lost a close match Saturday, Apr. 4 to in-conference foe Elon (13-4), getting into a hole early and very nearly coming all the way back to win.
The Tribe created an uphill battle early in the match, dropping the doubles point to the Phoenix by losing the No. 2 and No. 3 matches. The No. 1 duo for the Tribe did hold their own, with senior Vitoria Okuyama and junior Mila Saric downing their opponents 6-3 to move to 6-0 at the top seeded position.
Saric continued a stellar performance later in the match, claiming victory in her singles contest in dominant fashion, 6-1, 6-2. The victory moved her to 6-2 on the year in the No. 1 slot.
Elon then went on to take the No. 3 singles match to level the score, but Okuyama echoed her doubles partner’s singles precision at No. 4, taking down her opponent 6-1, 7-5 and moving the Tribe back in the singles lead.
The match then came down to the remaining three matches, all of which went to three sets.
At the No. 2 position, graduate student Jill van den Dungen captured the first set of her singles match 7-6, but dropped the second and final sets 3-6, 2-6. The No. 5 position also went to the Phoenix, with sophomore Alisia Manolescu blanking her opponent in the first set 6-0 before losing the next two 3-6, 4-6. These losses secured the overall win for the Phoenix, and even though the Tribe’s No. 6, junior Lisa Fokutoku came back to win 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, the conclusion did not change.
