PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The Christopher Newport women's tennis team split a pair of matches in the fall schedule finale on Saturday, defeating Oberlin College, 6-3, and falling to host Carnegie Mellon University, 9-0.
Kate Huck and
Johanna Ranta-aho each won two matches on the day to lead the way for the Captains.
CNU will wrap up play in the fall with a 1-1 record after Saturday's action against a pair of teams that finished last season in the national rankings. First up, the Captains downed Oberlin, who was ranked No. 38 in the final poll last season, on a neutral court. Then, in the afternoon, CNU fell to Carnegie Mellon, who was ranked No. 10 in the nation at the end of last season.
Leading the way in the morning matchup against the Yeowomen were senior
Kate Huck and sophomore
Johanna Ranta-aho. Ranta-aho captured a straight set win at No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-1) over Sarah Hughes and Huck gave up just a single game at No. 4 singles (6-1, 6-0) against Delaney Black.
The CNU duo also paired together to escape a tight battle at No. 2 doubles (9-8 (2)), taking down Lena Rich and Mayada Audeh. It was one of two victories in tandem play, as the Captains also won at No. 3 behind
Isabelle Wessel and
Emily Morgan. Wessel and Morgan won, 8-3, against Black and Claudia Olaes.
In singles action,
Meili Konell won at No. 6 (6-1, 7-6 (2)) versus Rich, and
McKinney Harwood clinched the match with a win at No. 2 (6-3, 6-4) against Audeh.
In the afternoon bout against the 10th-ranked Tartans, the match was far closer than the final team score of 9-0. In two of the three doubles bouts, the Captains fell by a narrow margin of 8-6, and in two singles matchups, the Captains either extended Carnegie Mellon to a third set.
Huck again had the best showing, suffering a three-set loss at No. 4 (6-3, 5-7, 10-5) against Hannah Rosenfield. She also added an 8-6 setback with Ranta-aho against Vinaya Rao and Melissa Strome at No. 2. Harwood also stretched her opponent to three sets at No. 2 singles before falling 3-6, 6-0, 10-8.
CNU will return to the dual schedule on February 18, 2018 as they travel to Washington & Lee University to kick off the spring portion of the schedule.
