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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
