Box Score vs. Oberlin
Box Score vs. Carnegie Mellon

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Christopher Newport women's tennis team concluded it's fall slate of action on Saturday, opening the dual season with a win over Oberlin College, 7-2, before falling to top-20 host Carnegie Mellon, 9-0. The Captains will start the spring season with a 1-1 overall record, including a win over the Yeowomen of Oberlin, who finished 2016 ranked 40th in the nation. 

The Captains opened up against Oberlin at 9:00 am on Saturday morning, but the early start time did not slow the CNU women, who raced out to a 3-0 start by sweeping the doubles bouts. CNU cruised to an 8-0 win at the No. 2 spot, with rookie Johanna Ranta-aho pairing with junior Kate Huck for the win. The other two wins came with some trouble from the Oberlin tandems, but the Captains picked up an 8-4 win at No. 1 and an 8-6 win at No. 3 to take a 3-0 lead in the match. 

McKinney Harwood and Alexandra Dye earned the win on the top line, defeating Sarah Hughes and Emma Brezel. The Yeowomen nearly stole a point at No. 3, but Emily Morgan and Meili Konell held off Mayada Audeh and Delaney Black. 

Oberlin closed the gap with the first two wins in singles play, picking up straight set wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Ranta-aho continued the stellar start to her collegiate career, though, getting CNU within one point of clinching when she captured a three-set win at No. 1 over Hughes. After dropping the first set, Ranta-aho stormed back to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. 

Claire Dockrill would seal the team win for the Captains when she picked up a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over McDermott in the No. 4 battle. With the match sewn up, CNU would add two more points with wins by Konell and Isabelle Wessel at 5 and 6, respectively, by scores of 6-4, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-1.

After starting the season with a win, the Captains would face a stiff challenge taking on the host Tartans, who finished last season ranked 12th in the nation. Despite the final team score, CNU battled against one of the nation's best teams with several impressive outings. 

In doubles action, Harwood and Drye teetered back and forth with Cori Sidell and Nicholle Torres before falling in an 8-6 final. Sidell is a two-time doubles All-American and was ranked nationally with teammate Minami Makino last season. Makino played at No. 2, pairing with Jamie Vizelman for an 8-4 win over CNU's Ranta-aho and Huck, while Konell and Morgan fell by a score of 8-2. 

CNU won at least one game in the first set of all six singles matches, and got a terrific effort out of Kate Huck at No. 4, but the Tartans won across the board. Huck extended her opponent in the first set and won six games between the two, but would fall to Vinaya Rao, 7-5, 6-1. Harwood also played well against Torres, who was ranked 23rd in the final ITA singles national rankings last season. Harwood collected a team-high seven game victories, but could not get by Torres in a 6-3, 6-4 setback. 

With the two duals wrapped up, the Captains will now focus on the spring season, which will open at home against Division I Norfolk State University on February 24.