Box Score

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- In the final home match of the 2014 spring season, the Christopher Newport University women's tennis team captured a pivotal win in Capital Athletic Conference action. The Captains (8-10, 4-1) won all three doubles matches and four singles to come away with a 7-2 win over Salisbury University (8-7, 3-2) on a clear Sunday afternoon. 

The two teams came in with identical 3-1 records in CAC action, and with just one league match left on the schedule, the Sunday battle would prove critical in the final standings. Both teams were regionally ranked in the most recent Atlantic South, with Salisbury hauling in the No. 9 spot and the Captains ranked No. 13. 

In doubles play, the Captains gave themselves an early 3-0 cushion by sweeping the Sea Gulls in tandem play. The big win came at No. 1, as the regionally-ranked Salisbury pair, Roxanne Alban and Natalie Savage, were taken down by CNU rookie Katie Carlson and senior Jodi Noland, 8-6. The SU pair came in with eight wins in duals this season, including four of their last five matches. 

At the No. 3 doubles line, rookie Brook Byrd and senior Kelsey Clark made quick work of Sam Babo and Claudia Lohn, with an 8-1 victory. The Captains No. 2 pairing, Logan Eldridge and Jackie Gaine, rounded out the doubles sweep with an 8-5 victory against Allison Lutz and Katie Youlios. 

Salisbury bounced back with the first two wins in singles action, cutting the lead to just one at 3-2. Savage earned the win at No. 1, while Eldridge was forced to retire in the No. 2 spot for CNU. 

The Captains bounced back, however, to win the remaining four singles matches. Carlson and Gaine won on straight sets in the No. 3 and No. 4 lines, while Clark and Byrd added the wins at No. 5 and 6, respectively. Byrd won the first set over Babo, 6-1, and then finished off her Salisbury counterpart in a second set tiebreak, 7-6 (7-3). Clark needed three sets, but shored up her win after dropping the first set, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7). 

CNU has just two matches remaining in the regular season, closing out the CAC schedule at St. Mary's (Md.) on Saturday, April 12, and then on to Virginia Wesleyan College on Sunday, April 13.