Senior Day Ends as a Doubleheader Sweep for Deacons

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sunny skies, family support, and anchoring performances all headlined a 'Senior Day' Sunday doubleheader (April 2) for Wake Forest women's tennis, as the team swept the day with wins over Syracuse 11-6, 4-7) and Elon University (14-4).

Team veterans Anna Brylin and Maddie Lynch were honored in a 'Senior Day' ceremony prior to first serve versus Syracuse. The two have combined for 73 team wins during their time in the program.

The Demon Deacons (14-9, 4-5) rang in their 10th victory at home during the day, along with a fourth Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) win. Wake Forest stands at 10-3 at home this spring.

Junior standout Casie Wooten notched the 100th combined win through singles and doubles of her collegiate career on Sunday, happening in a singles decision against Syracuse.

With 41 combined wins this year, Anna Brylin now has 167 for her career, resting within the top 15 all-time in program history. The graduate student went 4-0 in her appearances throughout the home tilt.

Match 1 – No. 27 Wake Forest 5, No. 28 Syracuse 2

Following pre-match 'Senior Day' festivities and looking to bounce back from Friday, Wake Forest brought its collective A-game during part one of Sunday's doubleheader. The Deacs breezed through doubles before Casie Wooten completely routed No. 95 Zeynep Erman for her third ranked victory of the spring. She also became Wake Forest's first individual to not surrender a game against a conference opponent in a single match this year.

Syracuse worked to briefly tie the match score at 2 all, but Nevena Carton had an answer on court four, finishing victorious in a straight-sets showing. Anna Brylin was up next to clinch, taking her 15th spring win in the process. The last Deacon remaining, Brooke Killingsworth showcased an all-around gritty performance while making a comeback decision in third singles.

Wake Forest leads 12-4 over Syracuse all-time, having won the last seven matchups in a row dating back to 2018.

How it Happened

After splitting their opening two games in doubles, Nevena Carton/Whitley Pate went ahead 2-1 for the first lead by a Deacon pair.
- No. 26 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth soon did the same on court one.
  - The ranked duo next rolled through two additional games to up their advantage to 4-1.
In second doubles, Mia Ahmad/Casie Wooten sat at a 2-2 tie.
Carton/Pate seized a break on three to again take a slight lead (3-2).
Brylin/Killingsworth stayed hot, refusing to let up another game en route to a controlled 6-1 finish.
Ahmad/Wooten remained in a tightly-played outing, going up 4-3.
Carton/Pate didn't let off the gas, winning each of their final three games to clinch the doubles point for the Deacs.
- Ahmad/Wooten went unfinished, still leading 4-3 at the time.
Brylin and Wooten both swung right into singles, taking 4-0 starts in the opening frame.
Focused for her Senior Day, Maddie Lynch came out of the gate to grab three of her first four solo games.
Wooten cruised through the first set, going untouched in a 6-0 sweep.
- Brylin then followed immediately (6-1).
On court four, Carton found some breathing room to avoid a tiebreaker, becoming the third Deac to win a set (7-5).
It didn't take Wooten much longer to complete her set, sweeping No. 95 Zeynep Erman for her third ranked victory of the spring.
- The junior gave Wake Forest a 2-1 lead in the match with her win.
Syracuse soon made its way onto the board with a fifth-singles victory.
Brylin headed into a third set.
After falling in the first, Killingsworth hammered through her second, sweeping to force a third period of action (3-6, 6-0, 0-0).
Similar to her opening set, Carton's match stayed close by the rallies (7-5, 4-3 at the time).
The Orange soon evened the match at 2-2 after collecting a win in sixth singles.
Poised play by Carton capped off a straight-sets win, her second of the weekend, as the Deacons moved back in front.
Brylin provided the clincher, confidently downing Syracuse's Miyuka Kimoto in the third.
Fifth singles was then played out, as Killingsworth stormed back to secure a win after battling throughout three frames.
- It was the junior's eighth spring victory.
Wake Forest knocked off Syracuse, 5-2.

Doubles Results:

No. 26 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth (WF) def. Zeynep Erman/Ines Fonte (SYR) 6-1
Mia Ahmad/Casie Wooten (WF) vs. Shiori Ito/Viktor Kanapatskaya (SYR) 4-3, unfinished
Nevena Carton/Whitley Pate (WF) def. Polina Kozyreva/Miyuka Kimoto (SYR) 6-2

Order of Finish: 1, 3

Singles Results:

No. 41 Casie Wooten (WF) def. No. 95 Zeynep Erman (SYR) 6-0, 6-0
No. 52 Anna Brylin (WF) def. Miyuka Kimoto (SYR) 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
Brooke Killingsworth (WF) def. Viktor Kanapatskaya (SYR) 3-6, 6-0, 7-5
Nevena Carton (WF) def. Polina Kozyreva (SYR) 7-5, 6-4
Shiori Ito (SYR) def. Whitley Pate (WF) 1-6, 0-6
Ines Fonte (SYR) def. Maddie Lynch (WF) 3-6, 2-6

Order of Finish: 1, 5, 6, 4, 2, 3

Match 2 – No. 27 Wake Forest 4, Elon 0

Making their way back to the courts after a near-two-hour break, the Demon Deacons again remained dialed in while facing the visiting Phoenix. Doubles was another successful trip around the courts for the Black and Old Gold, followed by a few comfortable solo showings.

Nevena Carton set the tone in singles, becoming the first Deac to land a win. Casie Wooten and Anna Brylin followed suit, as the latter clinched match point for the second time of the afternoon.

Wake Forest moved to a 7-1 all-time clip over Elon. The team is additionally on a five-match winning streak over the Phoenix that started back in 2014.

How it Happened

All three courts split the first pair of games.
Mia Ahmad/Casie Wooten pieced together wins in three consecutive games to hold a 4-1 lead.
Meanwhile, No. 26 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth rallied for a 3-2 gain on court one.
- The pairing and Ahmad/Wooten soon both took 4-3 leads in their respective matches.
Brylin/Killingsworth made a handful of successful serves and swings down the stretch, once again winning their final three games in first doubles, done in a similar manner compared to the Syracuse win.
A court over, Ahmad/Wooten only dropped one more game while snagging a 6-4 victory and clinching the opening point.
- Nevena Carton/Jingyi Li went unfinished in a 5-5 tie.
Carton was the first Deac to have a fast start in singles, scooping three straight games to start.
- The freshman steadied complete control for the rest of the opening set, leading to a 6-0 sweep.
Scattered around the courts, Brylin, Wooten and Maddie Lynch soon took 4-3 leads apiece.
In sixth singles, Jingyi Li stacked a couple of games to build an advantage before winning 6-2 in set one.
- Wooten joined her minutes later on the winning side (6-3, 0-0).
  - Brylin chipped in a 6-3 first-set mark of her own.
Killingsworth became the fifth Deac to win a set (6-4).
Carton fell in only two total games during her match, notching a third consecutive straight-sets win.
Brylin won the first three games of her second frame.
Wooten bumped her team's lead to 3-0 on a second straight-sets performance of the day.
Brylin again proved clutch in a clinch for Wake Forest.
- Three active courts at the time went unfinished.
The Deacons swept Elon, 4-0.

Doubles Results:

No. 26 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth (WF) def. Sibel Tanik/Lizette Reding (ELON) 6-3
Mia Ahmad/Casie Wooten (WF) def. Madison Cordisco/Julie Ball (ELON) 6-4
Nevena Carton/Jingyi Li (WF) vs. Olivia Archer/Miray Konar (ELON) 5-5, unfinished.

Order of Finish: 1, 2

Singles Results:

No. 41 Casie Wooten (WF) def. Sibel Tanik (ELON) 6-3, 6-1
No. 52 Anna Brylin (WF) def. Lizette Reding (ELON) 6-3, 6-2
Brooke Killingsworth (WF) vs. Helen Sarikulaya (ELON) 6-4, 4-2, unfinished.
Nevena Carton (WF) def. Julie Ball (ELON) 6-0, 6-2
Maddie Lynch (WF) vs. Olivia Archer (ELON) 5-7, 1-3, unfinished.
Jingyi Li (WF) vs. Miray Konar (ELON) 6-2, 4-5, unfinished.

Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2

From the Head Honcho

"I was very pleased with the effort today," said head coach Jeff Wyshner. "We were happy to get back to outdoor tennis, played good doubles in both matches and then battled through the singles. Casie was really impressive all day, and so was Nevena - when you have two players putting up strong singles performances after winning a doubles point, it puts a lot of pressure on the opposing team on all of the other courts. We are looking forward to the challenge of Thursday and Saturday at Duke and UNC."

Up Next

Wake Forest will face two Big Four foes on the road next week, traveling to Duke (April 6) and North Carolina (April 8).

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Mia Ahmad

Anna Brylin

Nevena Carton

Brooke Killingsworth

Jingyi Li

Maddie Lynch

Whitley Pate

Casie Wooten