Match Box Score in HTML Format

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. -- The Christopher Newport women's tennis team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the 2013 USA South Championship match today, dropping a 5-4 decision to top-seeded Methodist, on a tiebreak in the final set on Sunday. CNU (17-7), the number-two seed, was making its first appearance in the final since 2008 and nearly upended the three-time defending conference champions.

The Monarchs (20-2) opened up the day with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles, but CNU responded in a big way, taking the remaining two matchups. Seniors Kim Morrissett and Marion Gloor played a thrilling 17-point pro set at No. 1 doubles, taking on Katherine Meindl and Laura Baker for Methodist. The Captains' top tandem escaped with a 9-8 (7-4) win after the tiebreak. 

At No. 2 doubles, rookie Jackie Gaine and junior Jodi Noland pulled through with a key 8-6 victory over Hillary Petruska and Isabella Graf. 

The Captains carried a 2-1 lead into singles play, where the two teams would teeter back-and-forth the rest of the way.  Methodist won the first two matches, at No. 4 & 5, to take a 3-2 lead. CNU responded by twice pulling even to set up the dramatic finish. First, sophomore Angela Stallman dropped Petruska at the No. 6 spot (6-4, 6-0) to tie things up at three, and then, after a loss at No. 2, Noland came away with a huge win at No. 3. Noland won the first set 6-4, but trailed early in the second, 3-1. She stormed back and took the second set, 7-5, to help force the ninth and deciding point.

The match would rest on the shoulders of both team's top players, as Morrissett and Meindl battled for the second time in an eight-day span.  In the regular season match last week, Morrissett came away with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Monarch. This time, though, Meindl won the opener, 6-3, forcing Morrissett to come from behind for a 6-1 win in the second. In the third and final set, the two battled to a 6-6 tie, setting up a tiebreak. After a flurry of long rallies, Meindle finished off the win with a 7-5 score in the tiebreak. 

CNU falls to 17-7 on the season, the second most wins in a season since the championship run in 2008. Stallman wraps the season with a 20-match win streak, the third longest in school history, and will carry it into her junior season. Jackie Gaine and Jodi Noland have also each posted 13 straight doubles wins, marking the fourth longest streak in Captains history, and best since 2006-07. 

Kim Morrissett and Angela Stallman earned USA South All-Tournament Team honors.