Old Dominion, William & Mary women advance to conference tennis championship matches – The Virginian-Pilot

COLLEGE WOMEN’S TENNIS

Top-seeded Old Dominion earned its way back to the Sun Belt Conference championship at match at Rome Tennis Center in Georgia, shutting out No. 4 seed South Alabama 4-0.

The defending champion Monarchs (16-5) have beaten 12 consecutive opponents entering Sunday’s final against seventh-seeded Appalachian State. They won sets 6-1 and 6-2 for the doubles point, and Alexandra Viktorovich, Lidiia Rasskouskaia and Kira Matushkina prevailed in straight sets on singles lines 2, 4 and 5, respectively.

App State upset third-seeded Troy 4-1 Saturday after knocking off second-seeded Marshall 4-3 Friday.

Tribe to face Delaware for CAA title

Two-time defending champion William & Mary found its way back to the Coastal Athletic Association championship match, shutting out sixth-seeded UNC Wilmington 4-0 on Elon’s courts.

The Tribe (17-5) officially has won 13 matches in a row. W&M will play for the title at 2 p.m. Sunday against top-seeded Delaware (20-6). When those teams played April 7, the Blue Hens won 4-3 in Newark, but the ITA National Ranking Committee ruled eight days later that Delaware did not line up its players in order of ability. The Tribe won at singles spots 2, 3 and 4 and the Blue Hens won at 1, 5 and 6, and the closest match of the six was Francesca Davis’ 6-2, 6-3 defeat at 6. The match was ruled “no contest.”

COLLEGE MEN’S TENNIS

No. 32 CNU again beats No. 41 Virginia Wesleyan

Christopher Newport (12-6), ranked 32nd in Division III, defeated No. 41 Virginia Wesleyan (14-6) for the second time this season, winning 8-1 on the Marlins’ courts.

Vincent Truong, Nesh Kumaresan, Cox High graduate Ashton Legum and Maury alum Alex Seretis won in singles and doubles for the Captains.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

Hofstra’s perfect game stops Hampton

Julia Apsel pitched a seven-inning perfect game as Hofstra (18-23, 14-9 CAA) edged Hampton 1-0 to clinch a series triumph in Hempstead, New York. Angelina Branch (2-8) pitched a three-hitter but lost for the Pirates (15-32, 6-17).

Apsel struck out eight, including all three batters in the sixth inning, and induced nine groundouts and four flyouts. Aliya Catanzarita’s sacrifice fly to center in the fifth brought in Nicole Cancel with the Pride’s run.

Howard walks past NSU

Howard (30-11, 4-5 MEAC) rolled to a 29-8, 4 1/2-inning victory over Norfolk State (4-40, 3-16) in Washington.

Maya Johnson and Loren Hudson hit home runs for the Spartans), but their pitchers issued 17 walks in four innings. The Bison’s Maryn Jordan singled, doubled, tripled, drove in seven runs and scored four.

No. 13 Hokies down Syracuse

Cori McMillan clubbed a tie-breaking three-run homer in the eighth inning as No. 13 Virginia Tech (38-10-1, 18-5 ACC) evened its series at Syracuse (24-21, 6-14) with a 7-3 victory.

In the sixth, Emma Ritter and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy graduate Addy Greene both hit home runs for the Hokies. Lyndsey Grein pitched two shutout innings of relief for the victory.

COLLEGE MEN’S LACROSSE

No. 1 Notre Dame rallies past No. 6 UVA

No. 1 Notre Dame (10-1, 4-0 ACC) escaped an upset bid by No. 6 Virginia on the Cavaliers’ Senior Day, winning 11-9 before 6,497 at Klöckner Stadium.

The Cavaliers (10-4, 1-3) led 7-4 early in the third quarter and 9-8 early in the fourth, but hit a drought for the rest of the game. Jordan Faison’s goal with 9:12 to go put the Irish ahead 10-9, and Devon McLane netted the final goal, his third of the day, with 3:41 to go.

Payton Cormier led UVA with four goals, one short of the ACC career record held by Duke 2015-18 star Justin Guterding.

Hampton ends winless season

Fairfield (8-6) won 18-8 at Hampton on the Pirates’ Senior Day, ending HU’s season at 0-13, 0-7 in the CAA. Ellison Burt-Murray and Kai Talley scored twice apiece for Hampton, which posted a season-high goal total despite falling behind the Stags 6-0.

No. 7 CNU stops No. 10 W&L

Christopher Newport, ranked seventh in Division III, beat No. 10 Washington and Lee 12-8, leaving both teams 13-4.

Alex Brendes had three goals for CNU, while Drew Miller, Kevin Miller and Robby Adams scored twice each. Alex Brown led the Generals with three goals, but CNU’s Zac Hanway made 16 saves.

VWU’s season ends with defeat to Guilford

Guilford (8-9, 4-5 Old Dominion Athletic Conference) beat visiting Virginia Wesleyan 16-7, outscoring the Marlins 10-2 in the second half.

Sam Edwards scored three goals and Sebastian Reynolds two for VWU (5-11, 2-7), whose season ended since it didn’t qualify for the conference tournament. Gabe Alvarez poured in five goals for the Quakers, who are seeded seventh in the tourney.

COLLEGE WOMEN’S LACROSSE

No. 17 JMU handles ODU

Old Dominion lost its Senior Day game 18-9 to No. 17 James Madison despite five goals from Emma Arnold and four assists from Lilly Siskind.

The Dukes are 12-4, 5-1 in the American Athletic Conference. The Monarchs fell to 3-12, 0-6.

W&M drops finale in OT

Ally Heath scored 52 seconds into overtime to give Campbell (4-13, 1-7 CAA) a 14-13 victory over William & Mary (4-13, 0-8) in Buies Creek, North Carolina, in the Tribe’s season finale.

The Camels scored the game’s last three goals after Paige Gilbert’s team-high fifth had given W&M a 13-11 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Va. Wesleyan ousted from ODAC tourney

Fifth-seeded Randolph-Macon beat eighth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan 26-6 in Ashland in the ODAC Tournament’s first round. Helen Kennedy-Butler scored three goals for the Marlins, who finished 5-12.

Lilly Fowler had four goals and four assists for the Yellow Jackets (13-5), who earned a quarterfinal berth Tuesday at No. 4 Lynchburg.

No. 5 Salisbury overcomes No. 21 CNU

CNU (12-5, 1-1 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference), ranked 21st in D-III, lost 18-11 at No. 5 Salisbury (13-3, 2-0) after taking a 7-4 lead. Mary Hanzsche led the Sea Gulls with four goals, while Syd Guidi paced the Captains with four.