BLACKSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women's tennis team advanced two
doubles teams to the quarterfinals of the ITA Atlantic Region Championships on
Sunday at the Burrows-Burelson Tennis Center. The
junior team of
Maria Belaya and
Jeltje Loomans advanced to the quarterfinals
for the second straight season and are joined in the final eight by the Tribe
team of senior
Anik Cepeda and freshman
Leeza Nemchinov. W&M and Virginia
are the only two schools in the region with two doubles teams among the
quarterfinals.
Belaya and Loomans, who are seeded No. 3 in the regional and
ranked No. 12 nationally, remained perfect on the year at 5-0 with a convincing
8-1 win over Marshall's Karlyn Timko and Dana Oppinger in the round of 16. The
Tribe duo will face Virginia Tech's Raluca Mita and Kelly Williford, a No. 9-16
seed in the regional tournament, at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals on Monday. Last season, Belaya and Loomans teamed to
advance to the semifinals of the ITA Atlantic Region Championship.
Cepeda and Nemchinov upset the No. 5-seeded Virginia duo of Caryssa
Peretz and Maria Fuccillo, 9-7, to garner a spot in the quarterfinals. The
Tribe pair improved to 4-1 on the year and will face the event's No. 4 seeded
Marshall team of Maria Voscekova and Dominika Zaprazna at 9 a.m. on Monday. The
semifinals and final of the ITA Atlantic Region Doubles Championship will be on
Tuesday, Oct. 23.
In singles action, Belaya won her opening match of the day,
breezing to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Penn State's Katherine Whiteaway in the
second round to improve to 6-3 on the year. Belaya, the event's No. 5 seed,
dropped a close three-set match in the round of 16, falling to
Virginia's Caryssa Peretz, who is a 9-16 seed. Belaya won the opening set, 6-2,
before Peretz claimed the second, 6-2. The Cavalier player outlasted Belaya, 7-5,
in the third set to earn a quarterfinal berth.
Nemchinov fell in the second round, but not before taking
No. 8-seeded Maci Epstein of Virginia to the wire. After Epstein claimed the
opening set, 6-3, the Tribe rookie bounced back to take the second, 6-4. The
third set went to a tiebreaker, where Epstein was able to eek out a 7-6 (3) win
over Nemchinov.
Virginia Tech is the host of the ITA
Atlantic Region Championship, which runs through Tuesday, Oct. 23, at the Burrows-Burelson
Tennis Center. The singles and doubles winners of the ITA Atlantic Regional
will earn a spot in the exclusion USTA/ITA National Indoor
Intercollegiate Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis
Center in Flushing, N.Y., Nov. 8-11. The National Indoor Intercollegiate
Championship is the second fall national championship event in college tennis
and includes a 32-player singles draw and 20-team doubles bracket for both men
and women.
W&M Results from the ITA Atlantic Region Championships
Main Singles Draw Second Round (32)
#5
Maria Belaya (W&M) def. Katherine Whiteaway (Penn
State) - 6-1, 6-0
#8 Maci Epstein (Virginia) def.
Leeza Nemchinov (W&M) -
6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3)
Main Singles Draw Third Round (16)
#9-16 Caryssa Peretz (Virginia) def. #5
Maria Belaya
(W&M) - 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
Main Doubles Draw Third Round (16)
#3 Belaya/Loomans (W&M) [12] def. Timko/ Oppinger
(Marshall) - 8-1
#9-16 Cepeda/Nemchinov (W&M) def. #5 Peretz/Fuccillo
(Virginia) - 9-7
