No. 13 Tribe Drops Heartbreaking Match at ITA National Indoors

W&M will battle the host Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, Feb. 9.

02/08/08 6:00PM

Madison, Wis. - On the second day of the ITA National Indoor Team Championships, the No. 13 William and Mary women’s tennis team dropped a heartbreaking match to No. 19 Notre Dame, 4-3, in the consolation bracket. W&M rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knot the match at three, before the Fighting Irish claimed the victory with a three-set win at the No. 3 singles slot. W&M fell to 4-3 on the year, while Notre Dame evened its ledger at 3-3.

After wins by senior Megan Moulton-Levy at the No.1 slot and sophomore Lauren Sabacinski at the No. 5 spot tied the match at three, the balance of the affair came down to the No. 3 singles battle between Kelcy Tefft of Notre Dame and Tribe sophomore Ragini Acharya. Acharya rallied to force a third set with a 6-3 win in the second after dropping the opening set, 6-4. The decisive third set went down to the wire, before Tefft claimed the match for the Irish with a tiebreaker win.

The Tribe started the match off on the right foot, claiming the doubles point. The W&M duo of Moulton-Levy and junior Katarina Zoricic knocked off their highest ranked foe of the year at the No. 1 doubles slot. The No. 46-ranked duo and 2007 NCAA Finalists defeated the 2008 ITA National Indoor Championship pair of Brook Buck and Tefft, 8-4, in a battle of double’s titans The win upped Moulton-Levy and Zoricic’s season mark to 13-4 overall and snapped a 13-match winning streak for the Irish pair. It marked the 22nd win for Moulton-Levy and Zoricic over a nationally ranked foe in the last three years.

The sophomore tandem of Acharya and Sabacinski clinched the initial point of the match with a win at the No. 3 slot. The Tribe pair downed Kristen Rafael and Cosmina Ciobanu, 8-5. The win upped Acharya and Sabacinski’s record to 2-1 on the year and 5-1 as a team over their careers.

Wins at the No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 singles positions gave the Irish a 3-1 advantage in the match. The victories at the No. 2 and No. 4 slots were tightly contested affairs as both went to three sets. Moulton-Levy closed the gap to 3-2 with a three-set win at the top singles slot. The four-time Tribe All-American tallied her 51st career win over a nationally ranked foe, upending No. 62-ranked Ciobanu, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. Moulton-Levy, who is ranked No. 12 nationally, improved to 14-3 on the season.

Sabacinski tallied another impressive win for the Tribe to even the team tilt at three. The Plantation, Fla., native downed the second nationally ranked foe of her career and the first top-100 opponent over her first two seasons. Sabacinski defeated No. 82 Katie Potts, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 5 slot. The Tribe sophomore pushed her ledger to 16-6 on the season.

The Tribe will wrap up the ITA National Indoor Team Championships with the host Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, Feb. 9. The match will begin at 10 a.m. EST at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wis.

#19 Notre Dame 4, #13 William and Mary 3
Singles
No. 1 – #12 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) vs. #62 Cosmina Ciobanu (ND) – 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
No. 2 – #64 Brook Buck (ND) def. #83 Katarina Zoricic (W&M) – 4-6, 6-4, 6-0
No. 3 – Kelcy Tefft (ND) def. #55 Ragini Acharya (W&M) – 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2)
No. 4 – #88 Colleen Rielley (ND) def. Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) – 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
No. 5 – Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) def. #82 Katie Potts (ND) – 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 – #89 Kali Krisik (ND) def. Carmen Pop (W&M) – 6-0, 6-1
Finishing Order: 6, 4, 2, 1, 5, 3*

Doubles
No. 1 – #46 Moulton-Levy/Zoricic (W&M) def. #3 Buck/Tefft (ND) – 8-4
No. 2 – #50 Krisik/Rielley (ND) def. Kasztelaniec/Zidek (W&M) – 8-3
No. 3 – Acharya/Sabacinski (W&M) def. Ciobanu/Rafael (ND) – 8-5
Finishing Order: 2, 1, 3*