NORFOLK, Va. –The Old Dominion’s women’s tennis team came out victorious against William and Mary with a decisive 6-1 score on Thursday.
“A satisfying victory today for our group,” Head Coach Dominic Manilla said. “I thought we all did a good job of staying focused and finishing the job. I’m pleased with how we are developing as a team.”
Duo Marina Markina and Kira Matushkina opened up the doubles matches with a win against Emma Fernald and Mira Kernagis (6-2), with teammates Sofia Johnson and Lidiia Rasskouskaia following in suit with a 6-3 win over Hedda Gurholt and Ine Stange, giving ODU the point. Ulyanna Romanova’s and Victoria Matasova’s match against Alessandra Anghel and Francesca Davis was suspended (5-4).
Johnson and Gurholt met again in the singles matches, where Johnson would be victorious by a dominant 6-1, 6-1 score. Monarchs Matushkina and Matasova defeated their respective Tribe opponents Anghel (6-3, 6-1) and Davis (6-1, 6-3), with Romanova besting Anghel (6-3, 6-1) to seal ODU’s win. William and Mary’s Kernagis would get a win over Markina (6-2, 6-1), however, but Rasskouskaia’s would close out the match against Sia Chaudry with a hard-fought 7-6, 7-5 win.
William and Mary’s assistant coach, Brooke Pilkington, returned to ODU after graduating in 2021 and joining the Tribe’s coaching staff in 2022. Pilkington won the first of four straight conference championships with the Monarchs and was a part of the team for two years.
The Monarchs will travel south and end the week against P4 opponent NC State on Sunday at 1 p.m.