NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion women’s tennis fell short at Wake Forest on Sunday with a final score of 4-2.
“Another tough one today, but I am pleased with the areas of improvement we made,” Head Coach Dominic Manilla said. “This past week at practice we focused heavily on the time spent in between points and what we do with that time, what we tell ourselves, how we react to points won and how we react to points lost. I thought we did a great job improving those reactions. Despite the loss, I see a team that is getting better and wants winning results. I can only cite my experience in stating that this team is going in the right direction.”
To begin the doubles matches, Wake Forest’s Anna Zhang and Whitley Pate took down Old Dominion’s Marina Markina and Kira Matushkina (6-3), with teammates Nevena Carton and Kady Tannenbaum following behind after defeating Victoria Matasova and Ulyana Romanova (6-4). The last match would be suspended, where ODU’s Sofia Johnson and Lidiia Rasskouskaia were up against Makayla Mills and Krystal Blanch (5-4).
In a fight to secure three more points, Tannenbaum beat Romanova in a tight match (7-5, 6-3), while Carton took down Matushkina in a hard-fought win (6-4, 6-3). Though Monarch Matasova would overcome Demon Deacon Sankavi Gownder (6-2, 7-5) and Johnson would best Zhang (6-3, 6-4) to keep ODU in the match. However, Wake Forest’s Brianna Baldi sealed her team’s win with a victory over Markina in a tiebreaker set (6-7 (7-0), 6-3). Rasskouskaia’s match against Blanch was suspended (4-6, 6-3, 5-2).
The Monarchs will return home on Thursday, February 6 to take on William and Mary at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.