Wake Forest University
No. 34 Furman (First Round)
Demon Deacons Advance in Third Straight NCAA Tournament
5/7/2021 1:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The Demon Deacons came from behind to capture a 4-2 opening round victory over No. 34 Furman, advancing to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament Second Round.
ATHENS, Ga. – For the third consecutive NCAA Tournament, the No. 31 Wake Forest women's tennis team advanced to the second round, defeating No. 34 Furman, 4-2, on Friday.
The Demon Deacons (12-12) were anchored by a strong performance from the doubles pairing of Anna Campana and Peyton Pesavento on court three. The duo led from the opening game and never slowed, racing to a 6-2 victory to get the Deacs on the board in doubles.
It was not enough to grab the doubles point as the Paladins (21-7) took an early 1-0 advantage in the match.
Down 1-0, the Demon Deacons came out on fire during the singles portion of the match as Anna Brylin, Eliza Omirou and Brooke Killingsworth each raced out to 6-2 first set wins.
Freshman Casie Wooten put Wake Forest firmly in control when she went up one set with a 6-4 win on court six.
The back four courts remained in control throughout the rest of their matches. Brylin was the first to get on the board, cruising to a 6-2, 6-0 straight-set victory on court three. Killingsworth was right behind her on court five, evening the match at 2-2 with a 6-2, 6-1 win.
The Demon Deacons finally moved in front when Omirou matched Killingsworth's score of 6-2, 6-1, leaving the Deacs just one point away from advancing in their third straight NCAA Tournament.
With Wake Forest up 3-2, all eyes turned to court six where Casie Wooten looked to provide the clincher to advance the Deacs on to the second round. Up 5-4 and on serve in the second set, Wooten claimed the final point for the Demon Deacons.
Tournament Notes
- Wake Forest moves to 4-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament in Athens, Ga.
- This is the third consecutive NCAA Tournament the Demon Deacons have advanced to the second round of the tournament, all coming at Georgia (2018, 2019, 2021)
- In four of the last five appearances, Wake Forest has started its NCAA Tournament run in Athens, Ga.
- The Demon Deacons improved to 28-1 against Furman all-time. Friday was the first time in program history the Deacs faced the Paladins on a neutral court.
Quotable from Coach Wyshner
"I'm so proud of our team and the way we came through today. Losing the doubles point was going to make the match so much harder. Anya and Eliza did what we needed to do, which is put some numbers up on the board early and Brooke and Casie followed along with that. There was that key moment at 3-3 in the first set for Casie when she came through. Her suitemate next door to her finished match. All of a sudden she was on an island out there a little bit more. Give her all the credit in the world. She battled through and kept her feet moving and did the things that we're working on to make her a better player. It was a team win. The other part of that is you don't win three through six if you don't have one and two above. The other thing I'll note is Anna Campana did a great job of battling back in that second set. It takes a little bit of pressure off Casie, knowing we've still got two of them out here. A lot of credit to her. Carolyn battled up there and wasn't feeling great on the court today. She stuck it out and without her there, everybody has to move up. So, it was a real team effort." - Coach Jeff Wyshner
Singles Results vs. No. 34 Furman
No. 16 Kozarov def. No. 12 Carolyn Campana, 6-0, 6-1
No. 52 Anna Campana vs. No. 101 Adams, 2-6, 5-5, unfinished
Anna Brylin def. Dillon, 6-2, 6-0
Eliza Omirou def. Rompf, 6-2, 6-1
Brooke Killingsworth def. Pate, 6-2, 6-1
Casie Wooten def. Schoppe, 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 5, 4, 6*
Doubles Results vs. No. 34 Furman
No. 40 Kozarov / Adams def. No. 30 Carolyn Campana / Eliza Omirou, 6-3
No. 79 Dillon / Rompf def. No. 24 Anna Brylin / Brooke Killingsworth, 6-0
Anna Campana / Peyton Pesavento def. Pate / Schoppe def., 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Up Next
The Deacs advance to play host No. 3 Georgia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The match is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. ET.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,5,4,6
Players Mentioned
