No. 24 Tribe Takes Care of Business in Victory over No. 36 VCU

W&M tallied its fourth straight victory and its ninth over a ranked foe this season.

03/29/08 6:30PM

Williamsburg - In characteristic Williamsburg fashion, 80-degree weather turned into 50 degree weather overnight, moving what would have been the No. 24 William and Mary women’s tennis team’s third outdoor match of the spring to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The Tribe had not lost at the Tennis Center since a 2004 setback to No. 52 Ohio State in 2004, and furthered its streak by routing No. 36 VCU in a rematch of last year’s CAA title match, 5-2. The win was the Tribe’s fourth straight as it improved to 12-8 on the year.

The No. 11 doubles pair in the nation of senior Megan Moulton-Levy and junior Kat Zoricic took only half an hour to drop VCU’s first-position doubles team of Tatsiana Uvarova and Viktoria Konstantinova, 8-1. For Zoricic, the win marked her milestone 100th doubles victory, placing her sixth on the all-time list. It was also Zoricic’s 31st doubles victory this season, placing her in a six-way tie for fourth in the Tribe’s annals for doubles wins in a season. The Green and Gold pair improved to 23-7 on the year and 16-4 at the No. 1 slot.

After a VCU win at the No. 3 slot evened the doubles tilt, the match came down to the No. 2 battle. Laura Burns and Vera Petrashevitch of VCU kept it close throughout the match against Tribe tandem of sophomore Ragini Acharya and junior Klaudyna Kasztelaniec. With the match tied at 6-6, Acharya and Kasztelaniec went on the offensive, maintaining impressive control of the net to win the match, 8-6, and thereby the doubles point. It was the third straight victory and fifth overall for the Tribe pair and the third match in a row in which the duo clinched the pairs point for the College.

Pop started the singles dominance for the Tribe with her fifth win in six tries, a 6-3, 6-2 victory over senior Vera Petraskevitch. The triumph at the No. 6 slot put the Tribe up, 2-0.

Moulton-Levy pushed the lead to three with a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 42 Tatsiana Uvarova at the top single slot. The win was Moulton-Levy’s 117th of her career and moves her into a four-way tie for third on the Tribe’s career singles victories list with Johanna Sones, Carolijn van Rossum, and former teammate Megan Muth. The victory was also Moulton-Levy’s 13th over a ranked opponent this season, and she improved to 24-6 overall on the year.

Zoricic clinched the match victory for the Tribe with a win at the No. 2 spot. After battling hard for a 7-5 win in her first set, she was able to dispose of Konstantinova in eight games, 6-2, to win her match and ensure team victory. The clincher was Zoricic’s fourth of the season and it mark her 19th singles win of the year.

Ranked 121st in the nation, Acharya showed how tenacity can pay off in a big way. The Pulaski, Va., native was down 4-1 in her first set, but refused to go away. She stormed back with seven straight game victories to defeat Yergina 6-4 in the first set and take a 2-0 lead in the second. Even more hard-fought was the second set, which Acharya swiped in a tiebreak, 7-6 (1). Acharya improved her team-leading singles win total to 26.

The Tribe will travel to Norfolk, Va., to face Old Dominion on Wednesday, April 2. ODU is 7-5 overall and 2-0 in the CAA entering the tilt. The match is slated for 4:00 p.m. at the Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center.

Story by Student Assistant Aaron J. Gregory

#24 William and Mary 5, #36 VCU 2
Singles
No. 1 - #10 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) def. #42 Tatsiana Uvarova (VCU) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 - #118 Kat Zoricic (W&M) def. Viktoria Konstantinova (VCU) – 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 – Kateryna Yergina (VCU) def. #113 Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) – 4-6, 6-4, 10-8
No. 4 - #121 Ragini Acharya (W&M) def. Olena Leonchuk (VCU) – 6-4, 7-6 (1)
No. 5 – Laura Burns (VCU) def. Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) – 6-3, 4-2 (ret.)
No. 6 – Carmen Pop (W&M) def. Vera Petraskevitch (VCU) – 6-3, 6-2
Finishing Order: 6, 1, 2*, 5, 4, 3

Doubles
No. 1 - #11 Moulton-Levy/Zoricic (W&M) def. Uvarova/Konstantinova (VCU) – 8-1
No. 2 – Acharya/Kasztelaniec (W&M) def. Burns/Petrashevitch (VCU) – 8-6
No. 3 – Yergina/Leonchuk (VCU) def. Sabacinski/Pop (W&M) – 8-3
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 2*