Box Score CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Taking on the first of three challenging tests on a road trip to Ohio this weekend, the 28th-ranked Christopher Newport women's tennis team suffered a 9-0 setback at the hands of No. 12 Case Western Reserve University.
The Captains will also face Denison University and Oberlin College during the swing through the Central Region this weekend. Denison is ranked No. 29 in the nation and No. 6 in the Central Region while Oberlin checks in as a top-15 program in the area.
But first, the Captains were faced with taking on a top-12 program in the Spartans of CWRU. In doubles action, the Captains' top tandem of
Tessa Trate and
Raine Weis battled against the regionally-ranked Spartans pair at the top line, Hannah Kassaie and Lily McCloskey, but suffered an 8-4 loss to open the day. CNU dropped similar scores at 2 and 3 to fall in a 3-0 hole after doubles.
Megan Bauer and
Mia Linam managed five games off of Nina Hoog and Pallavi Goculdas, but could not tip the match to get the Captains on the board. At No. 3,
Kiersten Chang and
Karina Crivtonencu fell, 8-4, to Radha Patel and Katherine Wang.
In singles action, a pair of Captains earned set victories in their matches, but ultimately Case held on for the home win. Linam won the first set against Madeleine Eiss at No. 4 singles before falling by a final score of 3-6, 6-1, 10-6; and,
Kendra Womack also won her first set before being edged out by Wang at No. 6 by a score of 2-6, 6-2, 10-7.
A pair of top-ten regionally-ranked opponents waited the Captains at 1 and 2, where Kassaie defeated Trate (6-2, 6-2) and McCloskey took down Weis (6-4, 6-1).
Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday against No. 29 Denison University. The match will begin at 5:00 pm on the neutral courts of the Mayfield Village Racquet Club.
