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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – In the closest championship match in conference tournament history, the second-seeded Christopher Newport women's tennis team battled back-and-forth with perennial champ Mary Washington, capturing a record three team points against the Eagles before suffering a 5-3 loss in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon. The Captains finished the postseason event as runners-up for the eighth straight season while Mary Washington secured the program's 19th consecutive conference crown. 

The Captains picked up three wins, including a dominant effort at No. 1 doubles, straight-set win at No. 3 singles, and a thrilling three-set win at No. 2 singles. The gritty performance by the 35th-ranked Captains marks the first time since the inception of the tournament in 2005 that Mary Washington has surrendered more than two points and only the third time that the Eagles have given up more than even a single point to their opponents over the course of the entire tournament.  

Featuring two of the top teams in the Atlantic South region, the match was a thrilling exhibition from start to finish. Mary Washington took a 2-1 lead after doubles before a back-and-forth grind through singles play. 

In a matchup of regionally-ranked doubles pairings on the top line, the Captains avenged a regular season loss to the Mary Washington tandem with a dominant showing at No. 1. Sophomore Raine Weis and junior partner Tessa Trate downed Amanda Hagino and Hana Kimmey to pick up their 15th win of the season together with an 8-2 victory. 

After the teams opened 2-2, Trate won the third game with an incredible drop shot right in front of the net. It followed a pair of aces by her partner, Weis, powering the Captains to a 3-2 lead. The Captains then broke the Mary Washington serve to stretch the lead and, with Trate on the line, held again to pull ahead, 5-2. 

Carrying momentum, CNU broke again, taking a 6-2 lead, and raced out to a quick advantage in the next game with Weis serving. The seventh game was dominant, with a tough volley from Trate putting CNU ahead 30-love and Weis adding an unreturnable forehand on the next point. The Captains' top tandem finished off the game with a wicked drop shot from Trate that just barely snuck over the net for the winner. 

Weis perfectly placed a pair of winners into the opposite corner to kick off the clinching game followed by a double fault to take a 40-love lead. The Captains' pair looked to Trate for the final point, slamming a short forehand winner to clinch the set. 

The No. 2 bout was back-and-forth and would tilt the match one way or the other after Mary Washington picked up the win at No. 3 (8-1). Kiersten Chang and Mia Linam were trailing 4-3 when Chang looked to shift the momentum with a long rally back-and-forth from right corner to corner. The Captains' junior finally forced her opponent into the net to pick up the point. CNU evened the match, 4-4, but Mary Washington answered by holding serve to retake the 5-4 advantage. Both teams held serve again and the Eagles captured a 6-5 lead. 

Chang rallied the crowd with a laser down the line to stave off the Eagles for a moment, but Abby Moghtader finished off the break to take a pivotal 7-5 advantage. The CNU duo took the lead in the final game, but Mary Washington fought off a pair of break points to come back to win the match, 8-5. 

Facing a 2-1 deficit heading into singles play, the Captains snagged a pair of wins before Mary Washington clinched the match with a win at No. 5 singles. 

In the first set at No. 2, Trate trailed 5-2 before showing tremendous resolve with back-to-back-to-back wins, including two breaks, to draw the first set even at 5-5. The Captains momentum shifted elsewhere at the same time. Almost simultaneously, Anna Campbell gave CNU their first lead in singles, pulling ahead 4-3. Also, Linam flipped the score at No. 3, taking a 6-5 advantage. 

At the same time, Weis rebounded from a first set loss at No. 1 to take control in the second. While her teammates were hanging on in the first, Weis quickly took a 4-1 lead in the second set to keep her own match alive. She finished off the second set with a 6-4 win, forcing the match into a third set. 

At No. 2, Hagino broke to take a 6-5 lead on Trate, but the Captains' junior took a 40-love lead on serve-receive looking to force a first-set tiebreaker. She did just that with another exceptional drop shot to take the game and tie the set at six apiece. In the breaker, though, Hagino slipped by the Captains' junior, 7-4, to take the first set. 

Linam edged out Hana Kimmey in the first set at No. 3, 7-5, while Rebecca Stepleman took the first set at No. 4 by the same score against Anna Campbell. The matches were split as Linam picked up the first singles point for CNU, defeating Kimmey by a final score of 7-5, 6-3. 

Back at No. 2, Trate raced through the second set to force a third-set with a 6-1 win. Also headed to a third set, Weis fell behind, 3-2, but back-to-back wins teetered the CNU sophomore into the lead, 4-3. Taking on the 9th-ranked singles player in the region, Abby Moghtader, the match was decided by the narrowest of margins as the Eagles No. 1 outlasted Weis for a 7-5 win. 


Trate won the third set on a drive to the back line, finishing off Hagino for a 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2 win putting the Captains right back in the match, 4-3. CNU would need to win the remaining two bouts, at 5 and 6, to capture the first conference championship in program history. The final two singles matches started later due to court space, giving both teams a chance to cheer on their last two competitors. 

Despite taking an early lead in both matches, the Captains surrendered the first set in both by matching 6-4 scores. Kendra Womack was facing Emily Beckner at No. 5 while Megan Bauer took on Riley Smith at No. 6. Womack took an early 3-2 lead in the second set, but Beckner bounced back in what would prove to be the clinching match. The senior suffered a 6-4, 6-3 final to close it out. 

Christopher Newport falls to 5-11 overall on the season after one of the finest conference tournament performances in program history.