Saturday, February 17
Winston-Salem, N.C.
11 A.M.
Wake Forest University
3
vs
4
South Carolina
Demon Deacons Split First Two Home Matches of the Season
2/17/2024 6:35:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Senior Casie Wooten earned the first top-five victory of her career.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C - The Wake Forest women's tennis team played its first two home matches of the season Saturday, Feb. 17 inside the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center (ITC). The Demon Deacons dropped a 4-3 decision to South Carolina before a dominant 7-0 sweep over Campbell.
Senior Casie Wooten highlighted the day with her first-career victory over a top-five opponent, as she took down No. 3 Ayana Akli (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) in first singles against South Carolina. It marked Wooten's fifth ranked win of the 2023-24 season and third of the spring. She followed that up with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the second match, in addition to a 6-3 doubles win with redshirt freshman Krystal Blanch.
Marcella Cruz also picked up a ranked victory against South Carolina. The graduate student defeated No. 108 Shahar Biran (6-4, 7-6[5], 6-2) in second singles. It was her first victory over a ranked opponent in a Wake Forest uniform and second overall. Similar to Wooten, she grabbed a second singles victory (6-3, 6-4) in the match against Campbell and a 6-2 win in third doubles with senior Mia Ahamd.
Wake Forest (4-4, 0-0 ACC) took the doubles point in both matches on Saturday and have now earned the first point in five-consecutive matches.
The Deacs are now 9-16 all-time against South Carolina and remain a perfect 4-0 against Campbell.
Of note, Wake Forest is 60-7 (.896 winning percentage) against non-ACC opponents at the Wake Forest Tennis Center since the start of the 2014 season.
Match 1 vs. South Carolina
Wake Forest got off to a strong start, as it took the double point for the fourth-consecutive match. Cruz and senior Brooke Killingsworth got their first win over a ranked doubles pair together, 6-3 over No. 27 Akli/Lancelot in first doubles. They are now 4-1 as a partnership during dual play this season. Sophomore Whitley Pate and freshman Sankavi Gownder earned a 6-2 victory in third doubles.
In singles, four of the six singles courts went to a third set. Wooten (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) and Cruz (7-6([4], 6-2) picked up ranked wins over No. 3 and No. 108, respectively. South Carolina took the other four courts as Wake Forest fell, 4-3.
How it Happened
Singles Results:
Match 2 vs. Campbell
Wake Forest picked up its third sweep of the season as it took down the Camels, 7-0. It started with its fifth-consecutive doubles point with wins from Wooten/Blanch (6-3) and Cruz/Ahmad (6-2).
In singles, all six players earned straight-set victories, beginning with Ahmad (6-0, 6-1) followed by Wooten (6-1, 6-1) in fifth and first singles, respectively. Sophomore Jingyi Li clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win on Court 6 for her first victory in dual play this season.
The remaining three matches were played out as Cruz notched her second victory of the day with a 6-3, 6-4 win in second singles. Pate (6-2, 6-3) and Carton (6-1, 7-5) closed out the match with wins in fourth and third singles, respectively.
The win marked the 60th against a non-conference opponent at home for the Deacs since the start of the 2014 season to just seven losses.
How it Happened
Singles Results:
From Coach Wyshner
"Tough loss against South Carolina especially given how well we played. Our best performance so far this year. Hopefully we can continue to build like we've apparently done over the last few weeks. We're excited to head to the Blue Gray which is our favorite team event of the year."
Next Up
Wake Forest will now prepare for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic from Feb. 23-24 in Montgomery, Ala. at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center.
Follow the Deacs
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | GoDeacs.com
Senior Casie Wooten highlighted the day with her first-career victory over a top-five opponent, as she took down No. 3 Ayana Akli (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) in first singles against South Carolina. It marked Wooten's fifth ranked win of the 2023-24 season and third of the spring. She followed that up with a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the second match, in addition to a 6-3 doubles win with redshirt freshman Krystal Blanch.
Marcella Cruz also picked up a ranked victory against South Carolina. The graduate student defeated No. 108 Shahar Biran (6-4, 7-6[5], 6-2) in second singles. It was her first victory over a ranked opponent in a Wake Forest uniform and second overall. Similar to Wooten, she grabbed a second singles victory (6-3, 6-4) in the match against Campbell and a 6-2 win in third doubles with senior Mia Ahamd.
Wake Forest (4-4, 0-0 ACC) took the doubles point in both matches on Saturday and have now earned the first point in five-consecutive matches.
The Deacs are now 9-16 all-time against South Carolina and remain a perfect 4-0 against Campbell.
Of note, Wake Forest is 60-7 (.896 winning percentage) against non-ACC opponents at the Wake Forest Tennis Center since the start of the 2014 season.
Match 1 vs. South Carolina
Wake Forest got off to a strong start, as it took the double point for the fourth-consecutive match. Cruz and senior Brooke Killingsworth got their first win over a ranked doubles pair together, 6-3 over No. 27 Akli/Lancelot in first doubles. They are now 4-1 as a partnership during dual play this season. Sophomore Whitley Pate and freshman Sankavi Gownder earned a 6-2 victory in third doubles.
In singles, four of the six singles courts went to a third set. Wooten (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) and Cruz (7-6([4], 6-2) picked up ranked wins over No. 3 and No. 108, respectively. South Carolina took the other four courts as Wake Forest fell, 4-3.
How it Happened
- All three doubles courts were tightly-contested early on.
- Cruz/Killingsworth were tied with No. 27 Akli/Lancelott, 3-3 in first doubles.
- Blanch/Wooten trailed Biran/Malkin 2-3 in second doubles.
- Pate/Gownder led Mills/Hamner on Court 4, 4-2.
- The Deacs took third doubles as Pate/Gownder closed it out, 6-2 as the Deacs moved to a win away from taking the doubles point.
- Killingsworth/Cruz clinched the point for the Deacs with a 6-3 victory in first doubles.
- Court 2 went unfinished.
- Wooten took an early 4-1 lead against No. 3 Ayana Akli in first singles.
- South Carolina took the first set, 6-2, in fourth singles.
- The other four courts were close nearing the end of the first set.
- Gownder won the first set in fifth singles, 6-4.
- Blanch dropped the first set, 6-4, on Court 6.
- In second singles, Killingsworth earned a hard-fought, 7-5 first-set victory against No. 4 Sarah Hamner.
- Cruz became the fourth Demon Deacon to win a set with a 7-6(4) tiebreak victory on Court 3.
- Wooten went into a third set in first singles as South Carolina took the second set, 6-3.
- South Carolina took fifth singles (6-2, 6-3) and tied the match at 1-1.
- Cruz regained the lead for the Deacs with a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory in third singles.
- It marked her first ranked win in a Wake Forest uniform.
- Fifth singles went into a third set after the Gamecocks took the second against Gownder.
- Killingsworth also went into a third set on Court 2.
- Blanch battled back and won the second set in sixth singles, 7-6(5) and forced a third set.
- Wooten brought the Deacs to a win away from clinching the match, as she earned the first top-five ranked victory of her career (6-4, 3-6, 6-1) in first singles.
- The Gamecocks made it 3-2 with a win in fifth singles and tied it with a victory in second singles.
- Despite a hard-fought effort from Blanch, South Carolina took sixth singles and the match as Wake Forest fell, 3-4.
- Cruz/Killingsworth (WFU) def. No. 27 Akli/Lancelot (SC) 6-3
- Blanch/Wooten (WFU) vs. Biran/Malkin (SC) 2-5, unfinished
- Gownder/Pate (WFU) def. Mills/Hamner (SC) 6-2
Singles Results:
- No. 35 Casie Wooten (WFU) def. No. 3 Ayana Akli (SC) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
- No. 4 Sarah Hamner (SC) def. Brooke Killingsworth (WFU) 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
- Marcella Cruz (WFU) def. No. 108 Shahar Biran (SC) 7-6(4), 6-2
- Misa Malin (SC) def. Nevena Carton (WFU) 6-2, 6-3
- Elise Mills (SC) def. Sankavi Gownder (WFU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
- Olympe Lancelot (SC) def. Krystal Blanch (WFU) 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-2
Match 2 vs. Campbell
Wake Forest picked up its third sweep of the season as it took down the Camels, 7-0. It started with its fifth-consecutive doubles point with wins from Wooten/Blanch (6-3) and Cruz/Ahmad (6-2).
In singles, all six players earned straight-set victories, beginning with Ahmad (6-0, 6-1) followed by Wooten (6-1, 6-1) in fifth and first singles, respectively. Sophomore Jingyi Li clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win on Court 6 for her first victory in dual play this season.
The remaining three matches were played out as Cruz notched her second victory of the day with a 6-3, 6-4 win in second singles. Pate (6-2, 6-3) and Carton (6-1, 7-5) closed out the match with wins in fourth and third singles, respectively.
The win marked the 60th against a non-conference opponent at home for the Deacs since the start of the 2014 season to just seven losses.
How it Happened
- The Deacs led 3-1 on courts one and three, while Pate/Carton were even at 2-2 in second doubles.
- Wooten/Blanch earned a 6-3 victory in first doubles just before Ahmad/Cruz clinched the point with a 6-2 win in third doubles.
- Court 2 went unfinished.
- Wake Forest won the first set on all six courts.
- Wooten led 6-1
- Cruz led 6-3
- Carton led 6-1
- Pate led 6-2
- Ahmad led 6-0
- Li led 6-1
- Wooten (6-1, 6-1) and Ahmad (6-0, 6-1) earned victories in first and fifth singles, respectively and brought the Deacs to within a win away from clinching the match.
- On Court 6, Li clinched the victory for Wake Forest with a 6-1, 6-1 win.
- The remaining three matches were played out.
- Cruz picked up her second victory of the day on Court 2 with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
- Pate notched a 6-2, 6-3 win of her own in fourth singles.
- Carton closed out the match with a 6-1, 7-5 win in third singles.
- The remaining three matches were played out.
- Wake Forest won, 7-0.
- Blanch/Wooten (WFU) def. Ossa/Ranaivo (CU) 6-3
- Carton/Pate (WFU) vs. Ristola/Chitamber (CU) 4-5, unfinished
- Cruz/Ahmad (WFU) def. Prospalova/Hart (CU) 6-2
Singles Results:
- No. 35 Casie Wooten (WFU) def. Mialy Ranaivo (CU) 6-1, 6-1
- Marcella Cruz (WFU) def. Eeva Ristola (CU) 6-3, 6-4
- Nevena Carton (WFU) def. Tamsin Hart (CU) 6-1, 7-5
- Whitley Pate (WFU) def. Lily Chitambar (CU) 6-2, 6-3
- Mia Ahmad (WFU) def. Marianna Ossa (CU) 6-0, 6-1
- Stella Li (WFU) def. Veronika Prospalova (CU) 6-1, 6-1
From Coach Wyshner
"Tough loss against South Carolina especially given how well we played. Our best performance so far this year. Hopefully we can continue to build like we've apparently done over the last few weeks. We're excited to head to the Blue Gray which is our favorite team event of the year."
Next Up
Wake Forest will now prepare for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic from Feb. 23-24 in Montgomery, Ala. at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center.
Follow the Deacs
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | GoDeacs.com
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1
#1 Singles Match
123
Ayana Akli / 0 (3/-) [SC]
461
636
#2 Singles Match
123
Sarah Hamner / 0 (4/-) [SC]
576
753
#3 Singles Match
12
Shahar Biran / 0 (108/-) [SC]
62
76
#4 Singles Match
12
Misa Malkin / 0 [SC]
66
23
#5 Singles Match
123
Elise Mills / 0 [SC]
476
654
#6 Singles Match
123
Olympe Lancelot / 0 [SC]
666
472
Order of Finish:
4,3,1,5,2,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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