Feb. 8, 2014
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - No. 50 Women's Tennis (3-3, 0-0) was unable to knock off No. 43 William & Mary (3-6, 0-0) on the road Saturday afternoon, dropping the match 5-2. Dasha Sapogova (Minsk, Belarus) and Katherine Whiteaway (Sawbridgeworth, Eng.) each won their singles matches to pace the Nittany Lions
The Tribe struck first winning both the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Maria Belaya and Leena Nemchinov earned a 6-2 victory over Carmen Sandor (Toronto, Canada) and Taylor Shukow (Boca Raton, Fla.) at No. 1 to start things off.
The Tribe secured the match's first point with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles when Julia Casselbury and Mélanie Roy handed Marie-Frederique Bedard (Montreal, Canada) and Sapogova their first loss together on the season with the duo having won their first three. Katia Blik (Moscow, Russia) and Whiteaway's match at No. 3 went unfinished with the match tied 4-4.
Nabilah Farah added to William & Mary's lead knocking off Bedard at No. 4 in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. Katherine Whiteaway cut the deficit in half when she defeated Sydney Smith 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. The win moved Whiteaway back to .500 on the spring.
Katia Blik took Belaya, the nation's 65th-ranked player, to a third superbreaker but Belaya was able to withstand the effort topping Blik 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 and putting the Tribe back up by two. No. 89 Leena Nemchinov clinched the victory for William & Mary when she survived Sandor's upset attempt. Sandor forced Nemchinov into a tiebreaker in both sets, but Nemchinov came out on top in both winning the match, 7-6(4), 7-6(4).
Sapogova continued her impressive start to the season winning at No. 3 to move to 5-1 on the season in singles play. After dropping the first set, 6-0, she came back to force a superbreaker taking the match, 0-6, 6-3, 10-7 and giving the Nittany Lions their second point of the day.
Julia Casselbury closed things out for William & Mary with a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over Shukow at No. 6 singles. The Nittany Lions are back at it tomorrow when they head to Richmond, Va. to take on No. 44 Virginia Commonwealth University at 11 a.m.
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