Women's Tennis Claims 20th CAA Crown

The Tribe downed VCU, 4-0, in the championship match at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.

04/20/08 6:35PM

Williamsburg - The William and Mary women’s tennis team continued its dominance of the Colonial Athletic Association, claiming the program’s 20th league crown in the 23-year history of the conference on Sunday afternoon at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The No. 26-ranked Green and Gold notched a 4-0 victory over No. 35-ranked VCU to record its second straight league championship. The match was originally scheduled to be played at the Huntington Park Tennis Center, but was forced indoors due to inclement weather in the area.

The Tribe won its ninth straight match of the year, improving to 17-8 overall. The nine-match winning streak marks the third such winning streak under CAA Coach of the Year Kevin Epley and is the sixth-best mark in school history. As a result of claiming the CAA crown, W&M earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. It marks the College’s eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 17th overall.

In doubles, the No. 11-ranked team in the country, senior Megan Moulton-Levy and junior Kat Zoricic, got the Tribe off on the right foot. The W&M tandem cruised to an 8-0 victory over Tatsiana Uvarova and Laura Burns at the top doubles spot. The win was the Tribe tandem’s 10th straight and upped their season ledger to 27-7. It also marked the 90th victory for the duo over the last three seasons. For Moulton-Levy, the victory eclipsed the W&M school record for combined (singles and doubles) wins, marking her 243rd combined victory at the College.

Despite the smooth victory at the No. 1 slot, the Tribe fell behind early at both the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions. The No. 2 team of junior Klaudyna Kasztelaniec and sophomore Ragini Acharya trailed by a break at 3-1, but rallied to win the final seven games of the match and tally an 8-3 win over Viktoria Konstantinova and Vera Petrashevitch. It marked the fifth time in the last seven matches that Kasztelaniec and Acharya clinched the doubles point for the Tribe. It also was the tandem’s eighth straight win as they improved to 10-4 on the season.

Sophomore Carmen Pop continued her stellar singles play and quickly pushed the W&M lead to 2-0. Pop rolled past Kateryna Malakhova, 6-2, 6-2, at the No. 6 position for her second singles victory of the CAA Tournament. It was her fifth straight win and pushed her singles ledger to 13-6 on the season.

Fellow classmate Acharya pulled the Tribe within a single victory of the championship with a straight-sets triumph at the No. 3 spot. After racing out to a set advantage with a 6-0 win in the first, the Pulaski, Va., native broke Kateryna Yerginia late in the second set, before serving out the 6-3 victory. For the second time in as many years, Acharya won all three of her singles matches at the CAA Championship. She pushed her overall winning streak to nine matches, while upping her team-leading win total to 31.

Kasztelaniec clinched the title and sent the Tribe into a celebration with her straight-sets triumph at the No. 4 spot. The Second-Team All-CAA singles choice downed Lena Leonchuk, 6-2, 6-4, in the deciding match of the afternoon. It was Kasztelaniec’s 24th singles victory of the season.

The Green and Gold will wait to hear their fate in the NCAA Championships with the team bracket being released on April 29 and the individual championship selections being set on April 30. The NCAA Regionals will be played May 9-11 at campus sites. The NCAA Team and Individual Championships will be played May 16-26 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.

#1 William and Mary 4, #2 VCU 0
Singles
No. 1 - #8 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) vs. #43 Tatsiana Uvarova (VCU) - DNF
No. 2 - Katarina Zoricic (W&M) vs. Viktoria Konstantinova (VCU) - DNF
No. 3 - #114 Ragini Acharya (W&M) def. Kateryna Yerginia (VCU) - 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 - Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) def. Lena Leonchuk (VCU) - 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 - Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) vs. Laura Burns (VCU) - DNF
No. 6 - Carmen Pop (W&M) def. Kateryna Malakhova (VCU) - 6-2, 6-2
Finishing Order: 6, 3, 4*

Doubles
No. 1 - Moulton-Levy/Zoricic (W&M) def. Uvarova/Burns (VCU), 8-0
No. 2 - Kasztelaniec/Acharya (W&M) def. Konstantinova/Petrashevitch (VCU) - 8-3
No. 3 - Pop/Sabacinski (W&M) vs. Yergina/Leonchuk (VCU) – DNF
Finishing Order: 1, 2*