Athens, Ga. - The William and Mary women's tennis
sophomore duo of
Maria Belaya and
Jeltje Loomans fell in the opening round of
the NCAA Doubles Championship on Thursday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis
Complex. After dropping a tough tiebreaker, 7-6 (2), in the opening set, the
Tribe tandem fell 6-3 in the second to the No. 14-ranked Alabama team of Alexa
Guarachi and Courtney McLane.
"It was a very close match that could have gone either way," interim head coach
James Wilson said. "We really played well in the first set and served for it at 6-5. The ladies hung together in the second set, but ultimately Alabama was too strong. Overall, I am very proud of Maria and Jeltje, and they have a lot of potential over the next two years for the Tribe."
After going through the opening 10
games of the first set on serve, the Tribe finally gained an upper hand with a break to
take a 6-5 advantage. Guarachi and McLane broke back tie the match at six and
force a tiebreaker. Alabama took the early advantage in the tiebreaker and won
the final four points for a 7-6 (2) opening set victory.
The teams traded breaks to open the
second set, but an Alabama break in the third game sent the Crimson Tide out to
a 3-1 advantage. Guarachi and McLane earned another break to push the margin to
5-2 in the second. Belaya and Loomans battled to within 5-3 with a break in the
eighth game, before the Crimson Tide pair pulled out the victory to advance to
the second round on Friday.
The setback snapped Belaya and Loomans'
13-match winning streak and closed the year at 20-6. The Tribe pair entered the
NCAA Championships ranked No. 35 nationally and earned First-Team All-CAA honors this
year. Guarachi and McLane improved to 18-4 with the victory and will face
either the No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Florida team of Sofie Oyen and Allie
Will or the No. 13-ranked Baylor pair of Ema Burgic and Nina Secerbegovic in
the round of 16 on Friday.
W&M Results from the NCAA Doubles
Championship
First Round
#14 Guarachi/McLane (Alabama) def. #35
Belaya/Loomans (W&M) - 7-6 (2), 6-3
