W&M Women’s Tennis Defeats VCU, 4-2, to Win CAA Championship

Lingda Yang’s Comeback Singles Win Clinches Tribe’s 18th League Title

04/24/05 9:05PM

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - William and Mary junior Lingda Yang (Coconut Creek, FL) came back after dropping her first set to win her singles match and clinch the 20th ranked Tribe women’s tennis team’s Colonial Athletic Association championship victory over Virginia Commonwealth, 4-2, today at the Huntington Park Tennis Center. It is the Tribe’s CAA-record 18th conference championship and sends the team to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in a span of 11 seasons.

W&M wins its second straight CAA title and improves to 19-5 this season with the win, while the Rams, ranked 54th in the nation, drop to 17-7.

The match did not start off well for the Tribe, which lost the doubles point after being defeated on courts one and two. Ironically, W&M’s only win came at court three, where seniors Lena Sherbakov (Mountain, View, CA) and Amy Wei (Marietta, GA) earned their first decision as a doubles team since September 21, 2001, with an 8-3 win over Viktoria Konstantinova and Vera Petrashevitch.

Initially, things did not get any better for the Tribe in singles, when an injury forced senior Candice Fuchs (Sarasota, FL) to retire from her No. 2 singles match after just three games. Trailing 2-0, the Tribe slowly began to come back, scoring its first point when junior Megan Muth (Covington, LA), ranked 67th in the nation, defeated Konstantinova, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4. Not long after, W&M tied the match when 2005 CAA Player of the Year Megan Moulton-Levy (Monroe, MI), ranked 35th in the nation, defeated No. 60 Marianna Yuferova, the 2005 CAA Rookie of the Year, 6-4, 6-0, in the top match.

With the score knotted at two, it would be over an hour before either team would score another point, as each of the three remaining matches went to a third set. Finally, Sherbakov rallied back from a 2-0 deficit in her third set to defeat Cristina Arribas, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 at No. 3, putting the Tribe just one point away from the championship. Not long after, Yang ended the suspense by recovering from a close first-set loss to defeat Alexa Korotkevich at No. 6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, clinching the victory for the Green and Gold.

W&M earns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with the victory and will open play at one of the 16 first and second round locations on Friday, May 13. The Tribe will learn where its next match will be played when the 64-team tournament field is announced on Wednesday, May 4, during the nationally televised selection show.

Notes: William and Mary improves to 24-2 all-time against Virginia Commonwealth ... The Tribe has a record of 30-2 in the CAA Tournament ... W&M has won 18 CAA titles, more than any other conference team in any other sport ... The Tribe’s men’s tennis team completed a great day for the College by winning their CAA Tournament, which began as the women’s match neared completion ... W&M will make its fourth consecutive, and 14th overall, appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

#20 William and Mary 4, #54 Virginia Commonwealth 2
Colonial Athletic Association Tournament Final
Singles
1. #35 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) d. #60 Marianna Yuferova; 6-4, 6-0
2. Olga Borisova (VCU) d. #92 Candice Fuchs; 2-1, ret.
3. Lena Sherbakov (W&M) d. Cristina Arribas; 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
4. #67 Megan Muth (W&M) d. Viktoria Konstantinova; 6-1, 6-1
5. Amy Wei (W&M) vs. Vera Petrashevitch; DNF
6. Lingda Yang (W&M) d. Alexa Korotkevich; 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 3, 6

Doubles
1. #25 Borisova/Yuferova (VCU) d. #16 Fuchs/Moulton-Levy; 8-4
2. Arribas/Korotkevich (VCU) d. Kate Boomershine/Muth; 8-1
3. Sherbakov/Wei (W&M) d. Konstantinova/Petrashevitch; 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1