William & Mary Captures Third Straight CAA Women's Tennis Championship With 4-0 Victory Over Delaware
Rob Washburn
ELON, N.C. (April 28, 2024) – Second-seeded William & Mary captured its third straight CAA Women’s Tennis Championship, defeating top-seeded Delaware, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on the campus of Elon University.
It was the 29
th overall CAA title in 39 years for the Tribe, who earned the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. With the victory, William & Mary improved to 18-5 and matched a program record with its 14
th consecutive win. Delaware dropped to 20-7 after falling for only the second time in its past 13 matches.
The Tribe took an early 1-0 advantage by capturing a competitive doubles point. William & Mary’s No. 2 tandem of Ine Stange and Alessandra Anghel won five of the final six games and rallied for a 6-4 victory over Maryia Hrynashka and Julieta Honrubia. Delaware drew even at No. 1 as the team of Eliza Askarova and Alexandra Staiculescu rode an early break to a 6-4 triumph over Yu Chen and Emma Fernald. The point was decided at No. 3, where the Tribe duo of Francesca Davis and Mila Mejic went ahead 5-1 over Slade Coetzee and Paulina Jurkowska before the Blue Hens’ team reeled off three straight games. However, Davis and Mejic were able to break serve and secure a 6-4 triumph.
William & Mary used its strength at the top of the singles lineup to secure the victory. The Tribe’s Hedda Gurholt avenged a regular-season loss to Coetzee with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 1. W&M pushed its advantage to 3-0 at No. 2 when Chen used a dominant second set to defeat Askarova, 6-4, 6-0. The Tribe clinched the match in a second-set tiebreaker at No. 3 as Mejic beat Hrynashka, 6-3, 7-6 (2).
William & Mary will learn its first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament during the selection show on NCAA.com at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.
2024 CAA WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Finals – April 28, 2024
Jimmy Powell Tennis Center – Elon, N.C.
#2 William & Mary 4, #1 Delaware 0
Singles
#1 Hedda Gurholt (W&M) d. Slade Coetzee (UD), 6-2, 6-2
#2 Yu Chen (W&M) d. Eliza Askarova (UD), 6-4, 6-0
#3 Mila Mejic (W&M) d. Maryia Hrynashka, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
#4 Alessandra Anghel (W&M) vs. Alexandra Staiculescu (UD), 3-6, 2-4
#5 Ine Stange (W&M) vs. Navya Vadlamudi (UD), 2-6, 6-4, 0-0
#6 Francesca Davis (W&M) vs. Julieta Honrubia (UD), 7-6 (6), 3-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
Doubles
#1 Askarova/Staiculescu (UD) d. Chen/Emma Fernald (W&M), 6-4
#2 Stange/Anghel (W&M) d. Hrynashka/Honrubia (UD), 6-4
#3 Davis/Mejic (W&M) d. Coetzee/Paulina Jurkowska (UD), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*