Correction appended
The GW women’s tennis team advanced past Xavier, 4-1, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship early Saturday morning, but fell 4-0 Saturday afternoon to Richmond in the semifinal match.
The match, which was initially scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday, was pushed back to roughly 10:30 p.m. due to inclement weather and scheduling conflicts. Because of the late start, the match didn’t finish until after midnight. Sophomore Mimi Hamling and junior Zoe Krohn earned the first point against Xavier, beating their doubles opponent to open play. Junior Jacqueline Corba and senior Jennifer Hirsch followed suit, winning their doubles match to secure the lone 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.
“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, and once again, GW found itself 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 point. 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 after Richmond clinched the 4-0 victory.
The Colonials faced the Spiders without Corba, their top player, who fell Friday night and was forced to go to the emergency room. Five stitches later, Corba emerged otherwise unharmed, but unable to compete in Saturday’s match.
“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 will take on either No. 2 seed Temple or No. 3 seed Saint Louis in a third-place match Sunday, April 10, at 10:30 a.m.
“For us, we have something to compete for tomorrow,” Buth said. “Regardless of what match we’re playing, we’re always playing to win, and we’re always playing our hardest.”
This post was updated April 10, 2011 to reflect the following changes:
The Hatchet incorrectly reported that the women’s tennis team beat Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Championship’s opening round and lost to Richmond in the tournament’s quarterfinals. The Colonials beat Xavier in tournament’s quarterfinals and fell to Richmond in the Semifinals.
