Tribe Drops Opening Round at ITA National Indoor Team Championships

Senior Megan Moulton-Levy defeated her 50th career nationally ranked singles opponent at the No. 1 slot against No. 9 Miami (Fla.).

02/07/08 11:45PM

Madison, Wis. - The No. 13 William and Mary women’s tennis team dropped its opening match in the ITA National Indoor Team Championships to No. 9 Miami (Fla.), 4-1, on Thursday night. It marks the Tribe’s 12th appearance in the national indoor championship. W&M fell to 4-2 on the year, while the Hurricanes improved to 4-0.

W&M could not pull out the double point to open the match as the Hurricanes claimed wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 slots. The Tribe drew first blood in the doubles with a victory at the No. 1 slot as senior Megan Moulton-Levy and junior Katarina Zoricic downed Laura Vallverdu and Romy Farah, 8-2. It improved Moulton-Levy and Zoricic’s doubles mark to 12-4 on the year and 5-1 in dual match play. Miami, though, rallied to take the bottom two positions and claim the opening point of the match.

After Miami extended the lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 3, Moulton-Levy closed the gap back to one with a straight sets win at No. 1. The No. 12-ranked player nationally defeated her 50th career ranked singles opponent, downing No. 29 Vallverdu, 6-2, 6-4. The win bumped her season mark to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in dual matches.

The Hurricanes eventually claimed the match with three-set wins at the No. 2 and No. 5 positions. At the No. 2 slot, Zoricic dropped the first set, 6-0, to Farah of Miami, but rallied to force a decisive third set with a tiebreaker win in the second. Farah gave the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead with a 6-4 win in the final set.

At the No. 5 slot, sophomore Lauren Sabacinski dropped the first set to Caren Seenauth, 6-3, but won the second set in a tiebreaker. Seenauth clinched the Hurricane win with a 6-2 victory in the final set.

W&M will return to action at the ITA National Indoor Team Championships in the consolation bracket against No. 19 Notre Dame on Friday, Feb. 8. The Tribe-Irish match is slated for an 11 a.m. EST start.

#9 Miami (Fla.) 4, #13 William and Mary 1
Singles
No. 1 – #12 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) def. #29 Laura Vallverdu (Miami) – 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 – Romy Farah (Miami) def. #83 Katarina Zoricic (W&M) – 6-0, 6-7, 6-4
No. 3 – Michaela Kissell (Miami) def. #55 Ragini Acharya (W&M) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 – Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) vs. Bianca Eichkorn (Miami) – DNF
No. 5 – Caren Seenauth (Miami) def. Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) – 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2
No. 6 – Carmen Pop (W&M) vs. Claudia Wasilewski (Miami) – DNF
Finishing Order: 3, 1, 2, 5*

Doubles
No. 1 – #46 Moulton-Levy/Zoricic (W&M) def. Vallverdu/Farah (Miami) – 8-2
No. 2 – Kissell/Sabatino (Miami) def. Kasztelaniec/Zidek (W&M) – 8-3
No. 3 – Seenauth/Eichkorn (Miami) def. Acharya/Sabacinski (W&M) – 8-6
Finishing Order: 1, 2, 3*