NORFOLK, Va. – The No. 33-ranked Old Dominion women's tennis team started their penultimate weekend of the regular season on Friday with a convincing 6-1 win over No. 59 VCU at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
Doubles were outside as the Monarchs took the team point with wins at the one and three spots. Sofia Johnson and Alexandra Viktorovich got the first victory winning 6-2 over Yelizaveta Karlova and Nina Sorkin at three. ODU earned the team point on the strength of the fourth-ranked tandem as Yuliia Starodubtseva and Tatsiana Sasnouskaya won 6-3 over Gabriela Davidescu and Shivani Manjanna at the top.
In singles, the Monarchs had won five first sets before the rains hit and the match was moved inside. Once inside, ODU ripped off five straight wins. Sasnouskaya opened the run with a 6-1, 6-1 win at number two over Karlova and Yakubovich scored a 6-0, 6-0 win over Anja Draskovic at number five.
The match win was clinched by Sofia Johnson at number four with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Davidescu. Shahar Biran put ODU up 5-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 win at number six over Manjanna.
ODU pushed the lead to 6-0 in a battle of nationally-ranked opponents. Starodubtseva, ranked 22nd, put up an impressive 6-2, 6-2 win over the 77th-ranked Paola Exposito Diaz Delgado at number one.
The Monarchs return to the home courts again on Sunday with an 11 a.m. match against Navy. This is a rematch of an ODU 5-2 win at Navy on March 23.
ODU HEAD COACH DOMINIC MANILLA ON VCU WIN
A strong April performance across the board by our team today. It never gets old getting a victory over the Rams. I'm excited to get back on the court against Navy on Sunday. Go Monarchs!
No. 33 Women’s Tennis Blasts No. 59 VCU 6-1
