Women’s Tennis Concludes ITA Hall of Fame Classic, Novak Posts First-Place Finish

Saturday, September 14

Williamsburg, Va.

University of Richmond

ITA Hall of Fame Classic

Women’s Tennis Concludes ITA Hall of Fame Classic, Novak Posts First-Place Finish

09/16/2024 | Women's Tennis

Results

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The University of Richmond women's tennis team had a competitive showing at the ITA Hall of Fame Classic at William & Mary this past weekend, featuring first-place finishes in the doubles and singles draws.

"For our first tournament together, the team did great," said Head Coach Jacob Dunbar. "The energy was high, and they were all ready to get out there and compete. You can't ask for much more to kick things off. I think this tournament really showed areas where we need to focus, and it gave us a good road map for how we're going to improve."

In the Gold Singles Draw, Sofia Barbulescu battled through two sets and defeated Olivia Gallagher (UNCG), 6-1, 6-0, in her opening match. In the second round, Barbulescu fell to Hedda Gurholt (W&M), 6-4, 6-4. Andrea Campodonico, earned a hard-fought victory over Callie Flanagan (CIN), 2-6, 6-2, 10-7, in her opening match before dropping a tough battle to Alessandra Anghel (W&M), 7-6(4), 6-4. Barbulescu and Campodonico did not play the third-place match against each other.

Lucy Webber fell to Francesca Davis (W&M) in a tight 6-0, 6-3 match to open the Green Singles Draw. Webber then defeated Raegan Mitchell (UNCG), 6-0, 6-4 for the consolation title. Fellow Spider Claire Le Du also faced a tough opening loss against Sarah Watanabe (CIN), narrowly dropping a three-set battle, 6-4, 4-6, 10-4.

In the Black Singles Draw, Abby Lee dropped an opening match to Mira Kernagis (W&M) 6-3, 6-1 and picked up a third-place win over Elizabeth Birkevold (UNCG). Lainey O'Neil handled business in her opening match, as she downed Morgan Pyrz (CIN), 6-2, 7-5 before falling to Kernagis (W&M) 7-6(5), 6-2 for the second-place finish.

Elizabeth Novak cruised through her match against Parker Debnam (W&M) in the White Singles Draw, winning comfortably, 6-2, 6-3 and continued her success by defeating Emma Pell (WM) in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1 for the first-place finish. Amy Walsh fell in her opening match to Pell (W&M), 6-1, 6-2 and dropped a hard-fought battle to Ella Olexa (UNCG), 7-5, 4-6, 10-2 in the second round.

Doubles play featured Le Du and Campodonico in the Colonial Doubles Draw, where the duo dropped their match to Gallagher/Mitchell (UNCG). The pair then downed Pyrz/Watanabe (CIN), 7-5 for the consolation win. Novak and Lara Bakhaya had a dominating showing in the bracket, as they claimed a 6-2 victory over Dodashev/Bly (UNCG) and a 7-6(4) win over Angel/Davis (W&M) in the second round. The pair then won the bracket with a 6-3 win over Stange/Chaudry (W&M).

To conclude the invitational, Lee/Webber dropped their first match in the Griffin Doubles Draw 6-3 against Flanagan/Pacheco (CIN), 6-3, before defeating Olexa/Birkevold (UNCG), 6-2, for the consolation title. Barbulescu/O'Neil dropped their first match to Debnam/Kernagis (W&M), 6-2 but picked up the third-place win with a 6-0 sweep of Flanagan/Pacheco (CIN).

"The whole team performed well, but Lizzie really stepped up and played well in both singles and doubles," Dunbar said on the team's performance. "Doubles is key for college tennis, and I think we have a lot of great options already that will put points on the board come spring. It's something that needs to continue to improve, but I like where we are starting from."

Richmond will be back in action on Sept. 21 at the ITA All-Americans in Cary, N.C. before hosting the River City Tennis Open on Oct. 4-6 at the Westhampton Tennis Complex.