Johnson and Sasnouskaya Knock off Fourth-Seeded Duo In NCAA Opening Round

ORLANDO, Fla. – Day two at the 2023 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships for the Old Dominion women's tennis team saw a split in action, but ended with a huge win at the USTA National Complex Tuesday.
 
After an over three-hour rain delay that saw the doubles match move inside, Tatsiana Sasnouskaya and Sofia Johnson defeated fourth-seeded Ivana and Carmen Corley of Oklahoma 3-6, 6-4, 12-10 in a round of 32 match.
 
With the win, the second of the year for Sasnouskaya and Johnson over the Oklahoma duo, they advance to face Katherine Duong and Megan Heuser of Illinois who won 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) over Yinglak Jittakoat and Matilde Magrini, Fresno State on Wednesday.
 
"A championship effort out of the Monarchs today," said ODU Head Coach Dominic Manilla. "There were moments during the match that momentum was not in our favor, but Sofia and Tanya kept their composure and ultimately capitalized on their chance. This win took guts."
 
The Monarch tandem were down 4-2 in the second set before reeling off the last four games to force the third-set tiebreaker. In that set, the Oklahoma duo had two match points that ODU fought off including at 10-9. Sasnouskaya and Johnson won the last three points to take the third set 12-10.
 
In the fall at the ITA All-American Tournament, Sasnouskaya and Johnson defeated the Oklahoma duo 6-1, 4-6, 14-12.
 
The day started with Sasnouskaya in her second-round singles match as she fell 6-2, 6-4 to Layne Sleeth of Oklahoma to finish the season 27-9.