Wake Forest Splits Friday Doubleheader

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After being moved inside due to inclement weather, the Wake Forest women's tennis team dropped the opening match against No. 23 Duke, 4-1, before a 6-1 victory over Elon at Wake Forest Tennis Center on Friday.

In doubles, the afternoon was highlighted by sophomore Whitley Pate and senior Casie Wooten, who went 2-0 on the day and improved to 3-0 as a pairing this season. Their first victory helped the Demon Deacons (13-7, 4-2 ACC) take the doubles point against the Blue Devils, along with a win from freshman Sankavi Gownder and senior Mia Ahmad on court three.

After dropping the doubles point in the second match, Wake Forest bounced back and won all six singles courts. Wooten (6-0, 6-0) and Gownder (6-1, 6-2) each notched their 12th win of the season and are tied for most on the team.

With the win, Wake Forest improved to 8-1 all-time against Elon, including eight-consecutive victories with the lone loss coming in 2013.

Match One vs. Duke
The Deacs took the doubles point for the 11th time this season after a dominant showing against the Blue Devils (11-5, 4-3 ACC). Freshman Sankavi Gownder and senior Mia Ahmad earned a 6-1 victory over Bryzgalova/Shvets on court three before sophomore Whitley Pate and senior Casie Wooten clinched the point with a 6-2 win over Jackson/Berankova on court two.

The Blue Devils took courts three-through-six in singles and clinched the match, 4-1. Wooten (5-7, 5-4) and Killingsworth (7-5, 5-4) both saw their matches go unfinished on courts one and two, respectively.

How It Happened

In doubles, Gownder/Ahmad earned a break and took a 3-1 advantage on court three while the other two courts remained even.
Shortly after Wooten/Pate broke Jackson/Berankova in second doubles, the match was moved indoors due to rain.
Wake Forest moved to a win away from taking the doubles point after Gownder/Ahmad closed out a dominant 6-1 victory in third doubles.
Wooten/Pate clinched the point for the Demon Deacons on court two with a 6-2 victory.
- Killingsworth/Cruz led 4-3 on court one before the match went unfinished.
All six singles matches were tightly-contested early on.
Killingsworth took the first set one court two, 7-5, against No. 97 Emma Jackson.
- Duke won the first set on the other five courts, but four of the five were won by just two games.
The Blue Devils leveled the match with a 6-3, 6-3 victory on court three and took a 3-1 lead with simultaneous wins on courts five (7-5, 6-4) and six (6-4, 6-4).
Duke clinched the match after a 7-5, 6-1 victory in fourth singles.
- Courts one and two went unfinished.
The Blue Devils defeated the Demon Deacons, 4-1.

Doubles Results:

Cruz/Killingsworth (WFU) vs. Kimchi/Codd (DU) 4-3, unfinished
Pate/Wooten (WFU) def. Jackson/Berankova (DU) 6-2
Gownder/Ahmad (WFU) def. Bryzgalova/Shvets (DU) 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2

Singles Results:

No. 35 Casie Wooten (WFU) vs. No. 90 Shavit Kimchi (DU) 5-7. 5-4, unfinished
Brooke Killingsworth (WFU) vs. No. 97 Emma Jackson (DU) 7-5, 5-4, unfinished
Iuliia Bryzgalova (DU) def. Marcella Cruz (WFU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 94 Katie Codd (DU) def. Nevena Carton (WFU) 7-5, 6-1
Brianna Shvets (DU) def. Sankavi Gownder (WFU) 7-5, 6-4
Karolina Berankova (DU) def. Whitley Pate (WFU) 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: 3, 5, 6, 4

Match Two vs. Elon
The Phoenix (11-6, 2-0 CAA) claimed the doubles point, but the Demon Deacons bounced back and took all six singles courts en route to the victory.

Sophomore Nevena Carton became the third Demon Deacon to reach double-digit victories during dual play this season, as the New Jersey-native earned a 6-2, 6-3 match-clinching win in second singles against the Phoenix.

Ahmad (7-5, 1-6, 1-0 [10-2]) is now 3-1 this season after a dominant performance in her tiebreaker on court five. In fourth singles, Pate (6-1, 6-2) improved to 8-2 overall and 3-0 while playing on the fourth line.

In the longest match of the night, sophomore Jingyi Li maintained her perfect record this spring (3-0) with a 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 1-0 (10-7) marathon win on court six.

How It Happened

Shortly after Elon took first doubles, Wooten and Pate claimed their second victory of the day together, 6-2, on court two as the doubles point came down to court three.
The Phoenix held on four a 6-4 win in third doubles despite an impressive comeback effort from Gownder/Ahmad.
The Demon Deacons bounced back and took the first set on all six courts to open singles play.
Wooten quickly earned a 6-0, 6-0 victory on court one and leveled the match.
On court three, Gownder gave Wake Forest a 2-1 lead after a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
- Wooten and Gownder both earned their 12th victories of the season and are tied with each other for the team lead.
Pate brought the Demon Deacons to within a win away from clinching the match as she took down Ella Suk (6-0, 6-2) on court four.
Wake Forest clinched the victory with Carton's 6-2, 6-3 win in second singles.
- The two teams agreed to play out the remainder of the match.
Ahmad and Li were both forced into a third-set tiebreak, but both came out on top on courts five and six, respectively.
The Demon Deacons defeated the Phoenix, 6-1.

Doubles Results:

Tanik/L. Redding (EU) def. Li/Killingsworth (WFU) 6-3
Pate/Wooten (WFU) def. Cordisco/M. Redding (EU) 6-2
Suk/Bergeron (EU) def. Gownder/Ahmad (WFU) 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles Results:

No. 35 Casie Wooten (WFU) def. Lizette Reding (EU) 6-0, 6-0
Nevena Carton (WFU) def. Sibel Tanik (EU) 6-2, 6-3
Sankavi Gownder (WFU) def. Mariana Reding (EU) 6-1, 6-2
Whitley Pate (WFU) def. Ella Suk (EU) 6-0, 6-2
Mia Ahmad (WFU) def. Helen Sarikulaya (EU) 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-2)
Jingyi Li (WFU) def. Simone Bergeron (EU) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 1-0 (10-7)

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

Next Up
Wake Forest will now prepare to host the No. 6-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday (March 24) at the Wake Forest Tennis Center. The match is slated to begin at noon and can be viewed on Playsight.

Follow the Deacs
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | GoDeacs.com

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Mia Ahmad

Nevena Carton

Marcella Cruz

Sankavi Gownder

Brooke Killingsworth

Jingyi Li

Whitley Pate

Casie Wooten

Wake Forest Athletics