SWEET BRIAR, Va. — The Sweet Briar tennis program opened its home slate on Wednesday afternoon with a dominant 9-0 win over Trinity Washington before a tough 9-0 loss in a battle with No. 23 Washington and Lee at the Dennis Van Der Meer Tennis Center.
Sweet Briar (2-1, 1-1 ODAC) opened the day by dominating Trinity Washington (0-4) in doubles play, with all three courts finishing with an 8-0 Sweet Briar advantage. Sweet Briar mixed up its doubles lineup against the Tigers with seniors Emily Wandling (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Lacey Tucker (Swansboro, N.C.) playing at No. 1, first-years Ruth de Souza (Marilia, Brazil) and Riahn Holcomb (Wheaton, Ill.) at No. 2 and juniors My-Xuan Hillengas (Oak Park, Ill.) and Ruth Lechner (Baltimore, Md.) at No. 3.
Hillengas and Lechner both picked up their first doubles victories of the 2020 season against Trinity Washington.
Singles action saw a mixed lineup for the Vixens as the Vixens won all-six matches in two-sets. First-year Allison Wandling (Mechanicsville, Va.) played at No. 1, while Emily Wandling earned a win at No. 2.
First-year Kate Kotany (Erd, Hungary) won at No. 3, while at No. 5 singles Holcomb won the first singles match of her collegiate career.
Sophomore Emily Wrenn (Franklin, Va.) and Lechner both earned their first singles victories of the season at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively.
The nightcap saw the Vixens battle with Washington and Lee (7-0, 4-0 ODAC) throughout the doubles and singles lineups.
The Generals ranked No. 23 nationally and No. 5 regionally, had not lost more a game to Sweet Briar in more than one doubles match since the 2013 season before surrendering games at all three doubles positions on Wednesday.
No. 3 doubles saw Tucker and Lechner drop an 8-1 decision to Anna Kreynin and Gabby Moore, while Allison Wandling and Kotany fell 8-3 at No. 2 to Marta Mikos and Ashton Jenne.
The Vixens top-pair, Emily Wandling and de Souza, took Becket Waters and Valerie Marshall to the limit as the Generals' duo won the 8-6 decision.
Singles play saw the Generals pick up six two-set victories, but saw positives throughout the lineup.
Tucker picked up three games in a 6-2, 6-1 loss at No. 5, Kotany battled in a 6-1, 6-4 loss at No. 4 and Wandling held advantages at times in her 6-4, 6-2 defeat at No. 3 to Waters.
The top two singles spots saw Allison Wandling fall in a marathon 6-1, 6-3 match against Marshall at No. 2 and Mikos topped de Souza 6-2, 6-4 in a back-and-forth match at No. 1.
Sweet Briar steps out of regional play on Sunday with a 9 a.m. match scheduled against Mount Union at the Hilton Head Island Beach and Tennis Resort in Hilton Head Island, S.C. as part of PTR Spring Tennis Fest.
