NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's tennis team opened the dual portion of their schedule on Friday afternoon, hosting Division I George Mason University at the James River Country Club indoor tennis courts. The Captains fell, 7-2, after getting wins at No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles.
Facing a Division I opponent in the season opener, the Captains battled across the board with the Patriots, including a pair of three-set losses in singles play. Sophomore
Kara Ferner earned the win in singles play for the Captains while
Johanna Ranta-aho and
Olivia Reed paired up for the win on the top line of doubles action.
First up, Ranta-aho and Reed avoided the doubles shutout with an 8-7 win against Sydney Green and Brianna Gibbs of George Mason. The Patriots won the first match at No. 3 doubles, 8-3, and then held off a hard-fought battle from
Reagan Delp and
Amanda Yermal in the No. 2 bout, 8-6. The top line tandem for Christopher Newport picks up their second win together after going 1-1 in tournament play during the fall.
Facing a 2-1 deficit into singles play, the Captains dropped the first two matches at No. 3 and 1, to fall behind 4-1 before Ferner came through with another team point at No. 4. In the No. 1 bout between Green and Ranta-aho, CNU's junior won the second set, 6-4, but dropped the match 6-2, 4-6, 10-5. Ferner took on Kayleigh Hahn in the No. 4 matchup and won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5 to earn her first singles win of the year.
The remainder of the matches were won by George Mason but the Captains battled at No. 2 and No. 5 singles as Reed and Delp put together strong dual debuts for CNU. Reed played at No. 2 against Hannah Yang and stretched her opponent to 12 points in the first-set tiebreaker before succumbing to a 7-6 (12-10), 7-5 defeat in the match. Delp earned a first-set victory at No. 5 against Jackie Nannery before the Patriots player edged out the CNU sophomore rookie 1-6, 6-4, 10-7.
CNU will return to action on Saturday, February 16 against No. 18 Washington & Lee in a top-25 battle for their first Division III dual of the season. Match time is set for Noon in Newport News.
