FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- In the first match of a conference championship doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, the 2nd-seeded Christopher Newport women's tennis team will travel to top-seeded host Mary Washington for the 2016 Capital Athletic Conference Championship at Noon. The women's teams will battle in the front end before each CNU and UMW see their men's programs do battle at 3:30 pm.
The 17th-ranked Eagles will be looking to capture their 13th straight CAC crown in Saturday's title match, a rematch of the 2015 conference title bout where the Captains suffered an 8-1 loss to the Eagles. Mary Washington comes into the match boasting an 18-4 overall record while Christopher Newport is now 14-7 overall.
CNU advanced to their second straight CAC Championship appearance with a 5-0 shutout victory against third-seeded Salisbury, while Mary Washington earned its way to the final with a 9-0 win over fifth-seeded York (Pa.). In the regular season, the Eagles extended its advantage in the all-time series against Christopher Newport with an 8-1 win at home.
Alexandra Drye captured the lone point for CNU at No. 5 singles, while CNU won multiple games in every match except for 3 doubles.
The young Captains lineup will likely not change much heading into Saturday's matchup with the Eagles, with sophomores holding down starting spots in five of the six singles matchups. The lone junior is
Katie Carlson, who notched her 40th career win against nationally-ranked Babson on April 3. She is closing in on the top ten all-time in career wins, trailing a tie for 9th between Julie Viers and Susan Estes with 44.
Christopher Newport has leaned on strong doubles play all season, winning two-thirds of their doubles matches in 2016. Director of Tennis
Eric Christiansen made a change in the pairings and the Captains' responded by winning all three doubles matchups against Salisbury on Wednesday. After winning 12 matches at 1 doubles with Carlson, Harwood is now paired up with Drye, with whom she won eight doubles matches last season. At 2 doubles, Carlson is now playing with
Kate Huck, while sophomores
Emily Morgan and
Isabelle Wessel round out the starting tandems on the third line.
Mary Washington, who has reached the NCAA Tournament 2nd round or deeper in every year since 2007, will look to continue its run atop the CAC with talented sophomores leading the way as well. Kait Brogan plays the top spot for the Eagles, while fellow second-year Caroline Mosberg has seen most of the action at 2 singles. Brogan leads the team with 18 wins, including 11 in duals at the top spot. In doubles, Brogan plays with Shelby Harris and the duo is one of the top tandems in the country, boasting a 21-2 overall record and 15-1 mark in 1 doubles this season.
Full scores and a recap will be available following the action at CNUsports.com
