NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Sweet Briar tennis closed out its first weekend of competition at the CNU Invite today with matches against Division I Longwood and nationally-ranked hosts Christopher Newport. After falling to the Lancers, the Vixens bounced back to take down the Captains, who finished last season ranked 23rd in the nation, 5-4.
Facing a tough DI opponent, Sweet Briar saw successes throughout the match, taking at least one game in every match played. The doubles pairing of Guilarte/Guilarte gave Longwood's No. 1 doubles team a run for their money, taking eight games from Nurgazieva/Rizvanova.
Both Bovard/Kotany and Caro/Chen fell by scores of 8-1 to the Lancers.
Senior
Allison Wandling (Mechanicsville, Va.) played well at the No. 3 slot, taking Wiktoria Czerny to extra games twice. Sophomore
Maria Caro (Bogota, Colombia) also forced her Longwood opponent to win seven games in her second set of play.
Senior
Nikhita Simhambhatla (Hyderabad, Telangana, India) forced three sets against Alexis Broderick. Winning the first set 6-4 before falling 7-5 and 10-6 in the ensuing action.
Sweet Briar mounted the ultimate comeback against nationally-ranked hosts Christopher Newport in the afternoon to secure a thrilling 5-4 victory.
Wandling and Simhambhatla both won their matches in straight sets by scores of 6-4, 6-1 and 6-4, 6-4, respectively.
Senior
Sofia Andrade (Latacunga, Ecuador) took down Megan Bauer at the No. 4 spot 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 while junior
Isabela Guilarte (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) defeated Eva Taylor (1-6, 7-6, 10-3) to put the Vixens up 4-2 entering doubles action.
The pairing of Andrade/Patino clinched the match for Sweet Briar with an 8-4 win over Womack/Chang at No. 2 doubles.
Highlights
- Today marked the Vixens' first win over the Captains in recent history.
- Andrade/Patino remain undefeated over the past two seasons as a doubles pair with today's win over Christopher Newport.
- After the first weekend of competition, I. Guilarte remains undefeated in head-to-head singles play.
What's Next
The Vixens will head to the ITA Division III Southeast Regionals, Sept. 23-25, in Fredericksburg, Va.
