Gownder and Oxford Cap Marvelous Regular Seasons in Win at Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Wake Forest women's tennis (12-12, 4-8 ACC) wrapped the regular season on a positive note, rolling Virginia Tech (4-16, 1-11 ACC) 4-1 on the road during Sunday afternoon. Sankavi Gownder and Evie Oxford starred yet again, winning in doubles before continuing their dominance in singles play. Kady Tannenbaum added a third singles win as she continued her hot play in Blacksburg. The Demon Deacons officially finished 12th in the ACC this season, meaning they will play 13-seed Syracuse in their first match of the ACC Championships on Wednesday, April 15. The Deacs will look to get revenge on the Orange after falling to them in the regular season.

The doubles session was marked by decisive victories on all three courts. Gownder and Oxford won 6-1 in second doubles, while Virginia Tech's Elizateva Castillo and Alston Myatt quickly defeated Krystal Blanch and Aubrey Nisbet in third doubles. It came down to the nationally-ranked duo of Nevena Carton and Tannenbaum, and they delivered yet again. Carton and Tannenbaum, ranked No. 87, defeated No. 50 Arina Gamretkaia and Özlem Uslu, 6-1, to earn the Deacs the opening point. The pair has won six of its last seven doubles matches.

To nobody's surprise, Gownder started singles play with a dominant victory. Gownder finishes the regular season 15-1 in singles matches, with 13 of those wins coming in straight sets. Following her strong performance, Tannenbaum defeated Linda Ziets-Segura in sixth singles, bringing the Deacs within a point of victory. Tannenbaum is hitting her stride late in the season; she has won three of her last five singles matches and six of her last seven doubles matches.

Oxford secured the victory with a come-from-behind win on court three. After dropping the first set, the freshman battled back to take down Mila Mulready and earn the Demon Deacons their 12th win of the season. Oxford caps the regular season with a phenomenal 17-2 singles record. She leads the team in singles wins (17) and total wins (25).

Doubles Results

No. 87 Nevena Carton/Kady Tannenbaum (WFU) def. No. 50 Arina Gamretkaia/Özlem Uslu (VT), 6-1

Sankavi Gownder/Evie Oxford (WFU) def. Mila Mulready/Linda Ziets-Segura (VT), 6-1

Elizateva Castillo/Alston Myatt (VT) def. Krystal Blanch/Aubrey Nisbet (WFU), 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles Results

Nevena Carton (WFU) vs. Özlem Uslu (VT), 4-6, 6-4, 4-0 (unfinished)

Arina Gamretkaia (VT) def. Krystal Blanch (WFU), 6-3, 6-1

Evie Oxford (WFU) def. Mila Mulready (VT), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Heidi Bulger (WFU) vs. Elizateva Castillo (VT), 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 (unfinished)

Sankavi Gownder (WFU) def. Alston Myatt (VT), 6-1, 6-3

Kady Tannenbaum (WFU) def. Linda Ziets-Segura, 6-3, 2-6, 6-0

Order of finish: 2, 5, 6, 3

How It Happened

Gownder and Oxford quickly defeated Mulready and Ziets-Segura, 6-1, to open doubles play.

Virginia Tech answered minutes later, as Castillo/Myatt dominated Blanch/Nisbet to level the doubles session.

No. 87 Carton and Tannenbaum continued their strong play as they beat No. 50 Gamretkaia and Uslu to give Wake Forest the lead.

Wake Forest leads, 1-0.

The Hokies nabbed the first point of singles, as Gamretkaia beat Blanch in straight sets on court two.

Gownder put the Deacs back in front with her 15th singles win of the season.

Wake Forest leads, 2-1.

Tannenbaum continued to thrive in sixth singles, blanking Ziets-Segura in the third and deciding set.

Oxford came back after dropping the opening set to beat Mulready and end the match.

Wake Forest wins, 4-1.

Up Next

Wake Forest will head east to Cary, N.C., for the ACC Championships. The Deacs will play Syracuse, the No. 13 seed, on April 15. First serve is set for 3:30 pm in Bank Two.

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