NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Taking on a pair of familiar foes in Virginia Wesleyan University and North Carolina Wesleyan University, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's tennis team earned a pair of 6-1 decisions on Saturday afternoon. The Captains improved to 6-7 overall this season with both wins coming on the indoor courts at the James River Country Club.
In the matchup against Virginia Wesleyan, CNU captured its 11th straight win over the Marlins and is now 33-9 all-time against the cross-water rivals. Versus N.C. Wesleyan, the Captains made it nine straight while improving to 22-1 in the series against the Battling Bishops.
In the day's opener against VWU, the Captains won eight of the nine total matches including a doubles sweep. Earning the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead, the Captains won 6-4 at No. 1 and 6-3 at No. 2. Completing the sweep with a 7-6 (4) win at No. 3,
Erin Gross and
Samantha Robertson took down Zoe Vliegen and Lexi Hackbirth.
The other two doubles tandems were
Lindsey Bergelin and
Nathalie Lanne at No. 1, defeating Jette Dammeier and Mikisha Thomas, and
Emma Carver pairing with
Eva Taylor to take down Tuva Fink and Jette Hafermann at No. 2.
In singles action, the Captains won on lines 1-5.
Kylie Schaefer dropped just one game on the top line with a win over Fink (6-0, 6-1) and
Kendal Chang earned an equally decisive win at No. 2 against Vliegen (6-1, 6-2). In order, Robertson (6-3, 6-3), Bergelin (6-0, 6-1), and Gross (6-0, 6-3) each capped their two-win matches.
After the 6-1 win against the Marlins, the Captains went right back to work against the Battling Bishops. The match followed a similar script, with CNU earning wins in seven of the nine bouts in the second match of the day.
In doubles, CNU secured the team point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Chang and Schaefer earned a 6-4 win at No. 1 against Bethan Fothergill and Renata Torres while Carver and Taylor paired up for their second win of the day. The CNU duo earned a 6-3 win over Ajla Selimovic and Peyton McGahey.
Again, the Captains rolled through singles matches 1-5. Schaefer finished out an impressive day with another quick match at No. 1, downing Elaez Miranda (6-0, 6-2). Taylor matched her score at No. 4 with a win against R. Torres (6-0, 6-2). Chang, at No. 2, earned a win over Fothergill (6-2, 6-2), Robertson, at No. 3, took down Ivanna Torres (6-3, 6-0), and Carver, at No. 5, finished out the day for CNU with a win over Selimovic at No. 5 (6-3, 7-5).
Christopher Newport will return to action this Friday, April 3 with a road trip to Mary Washington. The match is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m.
