W&M Women's Tennis Defeats VCU to Win 17th CAA Title

Tribe Captain Amy Wei Comes Back to Win Three-Set Match to Clinch Victory

04/25/04 6:54PM

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - William and Mary junior Amy Wei (Marietta, GA) came back after dropping the first set to win her match on court three, clinching the Tribe’s 4-3 win over Virginia Commonwealth in the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Tennis Tournament Final this afternoon at the College’s Busch Tennis Courts. The victory avenges W&M’s 4-3 loss to the Rams in last season’s championship match and gives the Green and Gold a CAA-record 17th conference title. No school in the history of the league has won more championships in one sport.

“I’m so happy for the team to be able to win CAA Championship,” said the Tribe’s first-year head coach Kevin Epley. “We’ve struggled with injuries throughout the season, but the team continued to persevere and battle, and now we’ve won eight straight matches, including victories over Notre Dame [ranked 23rd in the nation at the time] and Old Dominion and now two against Virginia Commonwealth. Winning the CAA was a big goal for this team after losing such a tough match to VCU in the finals last year and I’m so proud of them for accomplishing that goal today.”

The victory improves the Tribe’s record to 19-12 on the year, while VCU drops to 17-8 with the loss.

As was the case throughout the tournament and much of the regular season, the Rams began the match down 1-0, as VCU was forced to default at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles with only five players available. VCU quickly tied the score, however, winning the remaining two doubles matches for the team point. The contest at No. 2 finished first, with Cristina Gago and Silvia Urickova teaming up to defeat junior Kate Boomershine (Glenwood, MD) and freshman Lingda Yang (Coconut Creek, FL), 8-3. VCU won by that same score at No. 1, as the Rams’ 59th-ranked team of Cristina Arribas and Olga Borisova upset the Tribe’s 34th-ranked duo of Wei and sophomore Megan Muth (Covington, LA).

Early in singles, the College took a 2-1 lead with a win at No. 5 singles, where freshman Emily Mowery (Bradenton, FL) breezed past Camille Ripert, 6-1, 6-0. However, VCU swung the momentum of the match in its favor at that point, winning the singles contests on courts two and four for a 3-2 advantage, just one point away from victory. At No. 2, the CAA Rookie of the Year, Borisova, ranked 71st in the nation, defeated W&M junior Lena Sherbakov (Mountain View, CA), 6-3, 6-0 to tie the score at two. Gago gave VCU its first lead of the championship, recovering after being down, 5-2, in the first set against Yang at No. 4, to come back and win the match, 7-6 (5), 6-3.

With its back to the wall, the Tribe did not give up, winning the remaining two contests in dramatic fashion. In the top match, W&M’s Muth, the CAA Co-Player of the Year and ranked 24th in the nation, had her serve broken by Urickova, ranked 53rd in the nation, in the third game, trailing in the set, 3-1 and then again at 4-2. Muth recovered to win three straight games, breaking Urickova’s serve in the eighth, and the two held the rest of the way to force a tiebreaker. The two split the first two points, but then Muth took over, breaking Urickova’s serve for the second point, holding for the third and fourth, then breaking again for a decisive 5-1 lead, eventually going on to win the tiebreaker, 7-2. The second set opened with four straight breaks, but then the two held through the 10th game, tied at five. Muth broke Urickova in the 11th and held on to with the second set, 7-5.

From there, the balance of the match hinged on court three, where Wei had battled back after losing the first set, 6-4, to break her opponent, Arribas, four times in the second, taking that set, 6-3. The third set stayed on serve through the first four games, but then each lost her serve in the following two, with Wei holding again in the seventh for a slim, 4-3, margin. Again, the two each gave away their service games, leaving Wei ahead, 5-4, heading to the 10th. Arribas won the first two points, as Wei was unable to safely return the first two powerful serves against her. But the Tribe captain took the next four points for the championship, with each player cramping and immediately falling to the ground as their two hour and 36 minute match came to an end with Arribas’ final shot going wide to her left.

As well as being the 17th women’s tennis title for the Tribe, the win also marked the 76th CAA championship (in 12 different sports) that the College has won in its history. The match earned the Green and Gold an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where W&M will be making its 13th appearance overall, and its ninth trip in the last 10 seasons. Brackets for the national postseason tournament will be announced on Wednesday, May 5.

#36 William and Mary 4, #51 Virginia Commonwealth 3
Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Tennis Championship Match

Singles
1. #24 Megan Muth (W&M) d. #53 Silvia Urickova (VCU); 7-6 (2), 7-5 (2:05)
2. #71 Olga Borisova (VCU) d. Lena Sherbakov (W&M); 6-3, 6-0 (1:29)
3. Amy Wei (W&M) d. Cristina Arribas (VCU); 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 (2:36)
4. Cristina Gago (VCU) d. Lingda Yang (W&M); 7-6 (5), 6-3 (2:06)
5. Emily Mowery (W&M) d. Camille Ripert (VCU); 6-1, 6-0 (0:50)
6. Default to William and Mary
Order of finish: 5, 2, 4, 1, 3

Doubles
1. #59 Arribas/Borisova (VCU) d. #34 Muth/Wei (W&M); 8-3 (0:50)
2. Gago/Urickova (VCU) d. Kate Boomershine/Yang (W&M); 8-3 (0:42)
3. Default to William and Mary
Order of finish: 2, 1

(Time of each match in parentheses)