DURHAM, N.C. – The 29th-ranked Old Dominion women's tennis team advanced to the second round of the 2022 NCAA Championship with an impressive 5-0 win over 36th-ranked Furman at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of Duke University on Friday.
With the win, ODU (21-6) ties the 2000-01 team for the most wins in school history and are now winners of their last ten matches. They advance to a 4 p.m. match on Saturday against tournament third-seed Duke who defeated Quinnipiac 4-0 in the second match on Friday.
The win is the second all-time NCAA Tournament win for the Monarchs after knocking off Arkansas last year in a regional hosted by North Carolina.
Doubles started out with the eighth-ranked tandem of Yuliia Starodubtseva and Tatsiana Sasnouskaya recording the first win with a 6-2 decision over 34th-ranked Julia Adams and Ellie Schoppe at the top spot. Furman evened doubles with a 6-3 win at number three.
Alesya Yakubovich and Shahar Biran rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the set at number two to take the last four games for a 7-5 win over Madison Dillon and Ellie Schulson to put the Monarchs up 1-0. They were down 5-3 and a pair of match points and then saved another pair of match points at 5-4 before finishing off the run.
Old Dominion carried the momentum into singles racing out to take the first sets in five of the six matches. Sasnouskaya, ranked 110th nationally, started the winning run with a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Schoppe at number two. Marina Alcaide, who had the C-USA title clinching match in their tournament title win, pushed the advantage to 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Dillon at the three spot.
Starodubtseva and Yakubovich shared clinching honors as their matches finished simultaneously for the 5-0 win. At the top spot, 18th-ranked Starodubtseva won 6-2, 6-3 over the 38th-ranked Adams. Just down the line at number five, Yakubovich scored a 6-1, 6-3 win over Schulson to advance ODU into round two.
ODU HEAD COACH DOMINIC MANILLA ON THE NCAA OPENING ROUND WIN
"That was an impressive performance by our squad at every position. I am so proud of the way we handled Furman's aggressive doubles play. They came out hot and we made the correct adjustments to gut out the point. Alesya and Shahar clinching the point after being down four match-points really boosted us. We used that momentum into singles and never looked back. I am excited for round two."
No. 29 Women's Tennis Advances To Second Round With 5-0 Win over No. 36 Furman
