Top-Seeded Tribe Advances to CAA Championship Match

Senior Megan Moulton-Levy tied the W&M school record for combined (singles and doubles) wins with her triumph at No. 1 singles versus Georgia State.

04/19/08 5:45PM

Newport News, Va. - The William and Mary women’s tennis will once again play for the Colonial Athletic Association Championship thanks to a 4-0 semifinal win over Georgia State on Saturday afternoon at the Huntington Park Tennis Center. The College claimed wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles slots, before sophomore Ragini Acharya, senior Megan Moulton-Levy and junior Barbara Zidek tallied singles wins to clinch the W&M victory. The College won its eighth straight match in improving to 16-8 overall on the season.

In doubles, the sophomore tandem of Carmen Pop and Lauren Sabacinski made quick work of Rachel Malina and Kiera Strickland, 8-2, at the No. 3 doubles slot. The triumph evened the Tribe duo’s season ledger at 5-5. For the fourth time in the last six matches, the pair of junior Klaudyna Kasztelaniec and Acharya clinched the tandem’s point for the College with an 8-3 win over Dariana Kozmina and Kiara Powell at the No. 2 spot. The win was Kasztelaniec and Acharya’s seventh straight as they improved to 9-4 on the year.

Acharya continued her dominance in singles as well with her eighth straight victory, 6-1, 6-0, over Katerina Gresova at the No. 3 position. The win pushed her record to 30-12 on the season. Moulton-Levy followed shortly there after with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kozmina at the top singles spot. It was her eighth straight win and improved her season mark to 28-6. The triumph also added to Moulton-Levy’s continually growing list of accomplishments. It pulled her into a tie for the W&M school record for combined (singles and doubles) victories with 242. She is currently tied with six-time W&M All-American Lauren Nikolas.

Zidek iced the Green and Gold’s trip to the conference finals with an unblemished win at the No. 6 singles slot. The Orland Park, Ill., native downed Strickland, 6-0, 6-0, for her fourth straight victory. It marked Zidek’s eighth overall singles win on the year and her fourth of the dual-match variety.

The Tribe will look for the program’s 20th CAA Championship in the 23-year history of the league when it battled No. 35-ranked VCU on Sunday, April 20, at 1 p.m. The match is scheduled to be played at the Huntington Park Tennis Center, weather permitting. With inclement weather forecasted for the area, the match could be forced indoors to the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg. Check TribeAthletics.com for updates.

Photo Gallery

#1 William & Mary 4, #4 Georgia State 0
Singles
No. 1 - #8 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) def. Dariana Kozmina (GSU)- 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 - Katarina Zoricic (W&M) vs. Martina Nitkova (GSU) - DNF
No. 3 - #114 Ragini Acharya (W&M) def. Katerina Gresova (GSU) - 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 - Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) vs. Kiara Powell (GSU) - DNF
No. 5 - Carmen Pop (W&M) vs. Rachel Malina (GSU) - DNF
No. 6 - Barb Zidek (W&M) def. Kiera Strickland (GSU) - 6-0, 6-0
Finishing Order: 3, 1, 6*

Doubles
No. 1 - #11 Moulton-Levy/Zoricic (W&M) vs. Nitkova/Gresova (GSU) - DNF
No. 2 - Kasztelaniec/Acharya (W&M) d. Kozmina/Powell (GSU) - 8-3
No. 3 - Pop/Sabacinski (W&M) d. Malina/Strickland (GSU) - 8-2
Finishing Order: 3, 2*