Saturday, March 28, William and Mary women’s tennis (12-5, 5-0 CAA) fell to No. 29 North Carolina Charlotte (17-3, 3-0 The American) 4-3 at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va. The match was the second in a weekend series between the teams and Liberty (12-6, 0-0 CUSA).
The Tribe entered Saturday’s match on a five-match win streak, four of which were against Coastal Athletic Association rivals. The opposing 49ers defeated Liberty 4-2 earlier in the day, recording an 11-match win streak.
On court No. 3, seniors Emma Pell and Yaelle Vaissaud jumped to an early 3-1 lead, giving the Tribe momentum out of the gate. Pell and Vaissaud handily took the first decided set of the day, with a final score of 6-2. With the day’s win, the pair moved to 16-2 on the season, including an eight-match win streak.
Over on court No. 2, the Tribe, led by freshman Alexia Gonzalez-Galino and sophomore Mira Kernagis, stalled out. Charlotte redshirt junior Shona Nakano and freshman Andrea Chacon took the set 6-2, marking their eighth win in 10 matches.
Shortly after, Charlotte sophomore Ni Xi and junior Sara Suchankova rallied to secure a 6-3 win over William and Mary senior Sia Chaudry and junior Francesca Davis. With Xi and Suchankova’s win, Charlotte clinched the doubles point, leading the match 1-0.
“[We] would have liked to have won at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles but came up short,” assistant coach Steve Schram reflected.
After the break, the Tribe got back to work with new momentum. On court No. 4, Kernagis jumped out to a two-game lead, and on court No. 5, freshman Rebeka Svabikova led comfortably early on in the first set. However, this did not last on courts No. 1, No. 6 and No. 3, where Xi took the first set 6-0, Chacon won 6-4 and Nakano bested Davis 6-1.
“I think it’s easy to lose belief when you’re going down early, but you just know that we all have that level, and it’s just competing as hard as we can,” Davis said following the match.
Not long after, Svabikova and Kernagis both won their first sets 6-4. Plays moved slower on the No. 2 court between freshman Tilda Larsson and Suchankova, as the two alternated winning games. Larsson came out ahead after the first set, emerging from an early 3-3 tie.
Within the second set of singles, momentum stalled for the Green and Gold. Xi remained dominant on court No. 1, ultimately securing the victory in the second set. On courts No. 4 and No. 5, Charlotte sophomores Prisca Abbas and Yelyzaveta Chainykova handily took the second set to force a third.
The Tribe stood its ground, as Davis found herself back in the match on court No. 3. Davis put on a strong effort to get a second-set 6-4 victory, forcing the third set and taking back Nakano’s early control. On court No. 6, Gonzalez-Galino found a rhythm, forcing a third set with a commanding 6-1 second-set win.
The match on court No. 2 between Larsson and Suchankova proved highly contested. Larsson led throughout the second set; however, Suchankova prevailed, forcing a third set after an extra tiebreaker game.
Back on court No. 3, Davis won the third set 6-2. The win improved Davis’ season record to 22-4 and brought her to an eight-match win streak. Throughout the season, the Somerset, England native has shone on court No. 3 with an 81% win rate.
Across the facility on courts No. 4 and No. 6, the 49ers dominated early in the third set. Chacon quickly took the third set, giving Gonzalez-Galino her first loss of the season in the No. 6 spot. With Chacon’s win, the 49ers were one match away from clinching the victory.
With its back against the wall, the Tribe looked to shift the momentum. Svabikova forced the match on court No. 5 to a third set, where she ultimately won. Kernagis rallied back from three games down to force a tiebreaker and level the match at 3-3.
However, hope quickly faded as attention turned to court No. 2, where Suchankova generated a convincing third-set win. Despite a strong effort from the Tribe, the 49ers took the match 4-3.
“We want to be peaking at the right time and playing our best tennis come conference tournaments, so this was a good match to prepare us for that,” Schram said.
Sunday, March 29, the Tribe fell to Liberty 3-4.
The Green and Gold looks to bounce back against No. 72 Elon (11-3, 0-0 CAA) Friday, April 3 at home.
