NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Playing at the Eyre Courts on a beautiful spring afternoon, the 14th-ranked Christopher Newport women's tennis team rolled to a 7-0 shutout victory against 37th-ranked Mary Washington on Saturday. With a third straight victory in the series, the Captains improved to 7-6 overall this season while the Eagles are now 4-6 on the year.
The Captains swept the day with a dominant run through doubles before posting a perfect day in singles as well. Christopher Newport has now captured three straight wins over a nationally-ranked opponent for the first time in program history after wins over No. 37 Hope, No. 7 Washington and Lee, and No. 37 Mary Washington.
On Saturday, the doubles dominance continued as nationally-ranked
Raine Weis and
Kylie Schaefer disposed of Addison Felts and Natalie Kim at No. 1, 6-2,
Kendal Chang and
Samantha Robertson paired up for a 6-2 win against Sophia Broomall and Linda Dimitroff at No. 2, and
Erin Gross played with
Lindsey Bergelin for a 6-1 win at No. 3 against Jacey Copeland and Evie Snyder.
The doubles sweep put the Captains ahead, 1-0, headed into singles play where they would clinch with the next three wins. Robertson capped her two-win day with a quick 6-1, 6-3 victory against Broomall at No. 5.
Eva Taylor won by the same score at No. 4, downing Copeland for the Captains. And rookie
Kendal Chang also won in straight sets at No. 3 against Dimitroff by a final score of 6-1, 7-5.
The other three matches came down to a third set including when Schaefer bounced back from a second-set loss to defeat Kim at No. 2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. On the top line, Weis outlasted Felts despite dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, capturing the win 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 1-0 (10-7). That left Bergelin at No. 6 and the Captains rallied behind her as she earned a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win against Snyder that sealed the shutout.
During the match, Weis collected her 60th career doubles victory to become just the fifth player in program history to reach that mark. She joins all-time leader Stefanie Leblang (70), and a now four-way tie for second all-time between Lindsey Pantele, Kim Morrissett, and Alexandra Drye (60). She also secured her 30th career singles win at No. 1, joining Pantele (50), Johanna Ranta-aho (37), and Amy Lawrence (35) as the only Captains to reach that mark.
CNU will return to action with a pair of matches next Saturday, April 5 as the Captains are set to host Virginia Wesleyan University at Noon and North Carolina Wesleyan University at 4:00 p.m.
