Sports In Brief

Women’s tennis finishes fourth at A-10 championships

The GW women’s tennis team advanced past Xavier 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship Saturday but ultimately fell to Richmond 4-0 in the semifinal match. It then fell 4-0 to Temple in Sunday’s third-place match, ending with a fourth-place finish overall.

Sophomore Mimi Hamling and junior Zoe Krohn earned the first point against Xavier, beating their doubles opponents to open play. Junior Jacqueline Corba and senior Jennifer Hirsch followed suit, winning their doubles match to secure the doubles point for GW. The Colonials cemented their victory over Xavier with five-straight wins in the singles slots. Hamling and Hirsch picked up singles victories, along with sophomore teammate Dorota Lysienia and freshmen Leah Pascarella and Julia Blakeley. The victory was especially satisfying considering the obstacles GW faced just trying to take the court – due to weather delays, the match didn’t begin until 10:40 p.m., pushing the finish past midnight.

“It was incredibly exciting,” head coach Dawn Buth said. “It was a long match. Xavier is always really competitive and a really feisty team and its always a dogfight against them.”

The Colonials advanced to the semifinal match against Richmond, a rematch of last year’s A-10 championship finals. Once again, GW found themselves unable to defeat the Spiders. Despite Hamling and Krohn opening play by again winning their doubles match, Richmond took the next two matches to earn the doubles points. Blakeley then fell in straight sets in the No. 1 singles match, followed by Lysienia and junior Meg Tyner also losing in straight sets in the No. 5 and 6 singles slots, respectively. Singles matches for Pascarella, Hamling, and Hirsch went unfinished, as Richmond picked up its 4-0 victory. It was an unwelcome echo of GW’s loss to the Spiders last season, which the Colonials also dropped 4-0.

The Colonials faced the Spiders a man down, lacking No. 1 singles player Corba, who fell Friday night, resulting in a trip to the emergency room. Five stitches later, Corba emerged otherwise unharmed – but unable to compete in Saturday’s match. It was a blow for the Colonials not only in singles play, but in doubles, as Corba is a member of GW’s No. 3 doubles team. Buth said the team battled through the loss of a strong player, putting it all on the line when it took on Richmond.

“I was very proud of the way they competed,” Buth said. “Handling a challenging environment and changing circumstances, they did a great job and played with their hearts on the line.”

The Colonials took on No. 2 seed Temple in the third-place match, but were swept by the Owls Sunday afternoon. Pascarella and Blakeley earned a doubles victory for the Colonials, but it wasn’t enough to pick up the doubles point, and Temple headed into singles play up by one. Pascarella, Hirsch and Krohn fell in singles play, enough to cement Temple’s victory. It was a tough finish for the Colonials, who wrapped up the season with a 12-7 record, the second consecutive season with a double-digit win total.