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SALISBURY, Md. -- In the regular season conference finale, the 24th-ranked CNU women's tennis team locked up the No. 2 seed in next week's Capital Athletic Conference Tournament with an 8-1 win over Salisbury University on the road. The Captains (12-5, 6-1) earned a first-round bye and will host the Sea Gulls, the No. 3 seed, on Wednesday, April 19 in the CAC Semifinals.
On Tuesday, the Captains picked up the program's fifth straight win over Salisbury to finish the season with a 6-1 mark in conference play. Both teams are ranked in the Atlantic South Regional Rankings, with CNU picking up their fifth win over a regionally-ranked foe.
The Captains sprinted out to a 3-0 lead in doubles play, holding off a strong performance by the Sea Gulls. After CNU won matches at No. 2 and 3,
Kate Huck and
Johanna Ranta-aho earned a big win at No. 1, 8-6. Huck and Ranta-aho battled regionally-ranked pairing Annika Kezman and Julia Kwedi, pulling out the tight win to sweep doubles.
Into singles play, the Captains quickly clinched the team victory when
Lily Schreiber and
Isabelle Wessel won on the last two lines in straight sets. First, at No. 6, Schreiber downed Shannon Hickman (6-1, 6-3) before Wessel clinched the match with a win over Jordan Schaefer (6-0, 6-1).
CNU built the lead to 8-0 with wins at 2, 3, and 4 in order before Salisbury finished off the match with a win at No. 1 singles. Ranta-aho added to her exceptional rookie campaign with a 6-0, 6-4 win at No. 2, defeating Kwedi for her 18th win of the season. She is now tied for 10th all-time for single-season victories in program history. Huck beat Claudia Lohn (7-5, 6-3) and
Claire Dockrill earned the win over Taylor Cooper (6-3, 6-4) at 3 and 4, respectively.
The match took just over three hours on a sunny day in Salisbury, Md. The Sea Gulls fall to 9-6 overall with a 5-2 record in conference play.
Christopher Newport will close the regular season with a pair of matches against Division I foes on April 14-15, taking on Monmouth University and George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. prior to the CAC Tournament.
