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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The 23rd-ranked Christopher Newport women's tennis team sailed into their third straight Capital Athletic Conference Championship with a 5-0 win in the semifinals on Wednesday afternoon, taking down regionally-ranked and third-seeded Salisbury University. The Captains (14-6) will advance to face top-seeded Mary Washington on Saturday, April 22 in the 2017 title bout. 

Highlighting the effort was a thrilling win at No. 2 doubles, while rookie Johanna Ranta-aho added another singles win to her incredible rookie campaign. CNU raced out to a 3-0 start after doubles and got wins at 1 and 6 singles to clinch the team victory.

CNU swept doubles play thanks to a 9-8 (4) win at No. 2 from Kate Huck and Ranta-aho to put the Captains ahead, 3-0. The Captains' duo defeated Claudia Lohn and Jordan Schaefer. 

In a regionally-ranked showdown at No. 1 doubles, Alexandra Drye and McKinney Harwood held off Annika Kezman and Julia Kwedi, 8-4. Drye and Harwood, ranked third in the region, defeated the 11th-ranked tandem in the Atlantic South to pick up their fifth straight win together. Rounding out the wins in pairs play, senior Katie Carlson and junior Emily Morgan added an 8-2 victory at No. 3 over Taylor Cooper and Sage Cole. 

With momentum going into singles play, Ranta-aho put the Captains one win away from clinching with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Kezman, ranked 22nd in the region. The freshman earned her 21st singles win, matching Frannie Shivar for third on the all-time single season list at Christopher Newport. She improves to 21-6 this season, with a perfect 6-0 mark at No. 1 singles, while also notching her 15th straight win. 

Also red hot in singles action is sophomore Lily Schreiber, winning 12 straight coming into the Wednesday afternoon matchup. Playing at No. 6 singles against Shannon Hickman, Schreiber cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win to clinch the match for the Captains. The sophomore is a perfect 13-0 this season, going 8-0 in dual action. 

Christopher Newport had the lead in three more singles matches that went unfinished after the match was clinched for the Captains. Isabelle Wessel, Claire Dockrill, and Carlson were leading with first set wins. 

The Captains will now advance to the CAC Championship for the third straight season. CNU will travel to Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, April 22, set to battle the 15th-ranked Eagles of Mary Washington (18-5). Match time will be announced soon, at CNUsports.com.