Demon Deacons Dominate Doubleheader

Friday, January 30

Winston-Salem, N.C.

2 P.M.

Wake Forest University

Marshall

Photo by: Bryce Mitchell / Wake Forest Athletics

1/30/2026 9:12:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

Wake Forest remains perfect at home with wins over Marshall and UNC Greensboro

By: Joseph Baker

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest women's tennis (3-2) swept its lone doubleheader of the season on Friday, picking up wins over Marshall (2-3) and UNC Greensboro (0-4) to stay undefeated at home this spring. The Demon Deacons excelled in singles to defeat Marshall, 4-3, before earning its first sweep of the year over UNC Greensboro, 7-0.

Junior Sankavi Gownder continued to impress, improving to 4-0 in singles with two more wins on the day. Other standouts included Evie Oxford and Krystal Blanch, who were both perfect on the day as they won their singles matches and a doubles match to help the Deacs emerge victorious in both contests. Senior Jingyi Li made her singles debut against UNC Greensboro and delivered a dominant 6-0, 6-2 performance en route to the Wake Forest sweep.

Marshall bested the Demon Deacons in the doubles session and took the first point of the match. Once singles started, though, it was all Deacs. Wake Forest would go on to win the first four singles matches of the day to flip the match on its head and secure the victory. Marshall picked up a pair of matches late to bring the score to 4-3, but the damage was done.

Riding the momentum of the earlier win, the Demon Deacons cruised past UNC Greensboro, 7-0. After sweeping the doubles session, all six Deacs won their singles matches in straight sets. Gownder (6-0, 6-0) recorded the first straight-sets sweep of the season for the Old Gold and Black, blanking Kayley Bushnell to secure the victory.

Wake Forest bounced back nicely after suffering a road loss to Furman last time out. The team remains perfect at home, improving to 3-0 in Winston-Salem this season. Next weekend, the Deacs will be looking for their first road win of the year when they travel to Virginia to take on Old Dominion on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Doubles Results vs. Marshall

Polina Gumeniuk/Alina Mokrynska (MARS) def. Nevena Carton/Kady Tannenbaum (WFU), 6-1
Krystal Blanch/Evie Oxford (WFU) vs. Thalia Smith/Sarah Copley (MARS), 5-5 (unfinished)
Johanna Strom/Nour El Ouzzani (MARS) def. Sankavi Gownder/Aubrey Nisbet (WFU), 6-2

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles Results vs. Marshall

Krystal Blanch (WFU) def. Johanna Strom (MARS), 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
Polina Gumeniuk (MARS) def. Nevena Carton (WFU). 7-6 (11-9), 4-6, 1-0 (13-11)
Alina Mokrynska (MARS) def. Heidi Bulger (WFU), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Kady Tannenbaum (WFU) def. Thalia Smith (MARS), 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
Evie Oxford (WFU) def. Nour El Ouzzani (MARS), 6-1, 6-2
Sankavi Gownder (WFU) def. Sara Copley (MARS), 6-3, 7-5

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

Doubles Results vs. UNC Greensboro

Nevena Carton/Kady Tannenbaum (WFU) def. Sophia Cedeno/Lauren Thomson (UNCG), 6-3
Krystal Blanch/Evie Oxford (WFU) def. Sofia Somoano/Sara Kostic (UNCG), 6-1
Sankavi Gownder/Jingyi Li (WFU) def. Kayley Bushnell/Sydney Bly (UNCG), 6-2

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles Results vs. UNC Greensboro

Nevena Carton (WFU) def. Sophia Cedeno (UNCG), 6-2, 6-2
Krystal Blanch (WFU) def. Sara Kostic (UNCG), 6-0, 6-1
Heidi Bulger (WFU) def. Lauren Thomson (UNCG), 6-4, 6-2
Evie Oxford (WFU) def. Sydney Bly (UNCG), 6-2, 6-0
Sankavi Gownder (WFU) def. Kayley Bushnell, 6-0, 6-0
Jingyi Li (WFU) def. Ella Olexa (UNCG), 6-0, 6-2

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

From Coach Wyshner
"Really good performance today! Proud of the way the group responded after losing the doubles point to a good Marshall team. With the depth we have, when Nevena [Carton] and Krystal [Blanch] playing the way they did today in the top two spots, we'll be very hard to beat. Doubleheaders are always tough mentally and physically, and the players handled the second match with great maturity. We turn the page to February with a very big match on the road at ODU next weekend. Go Deacs."

Up Next
Wake Forest is off until next weekend, when the team will travel to play at Old Dominion on Saturday, Feb. 7. The Demon Deacons beat ODU 4-2 last season and are 13-4 against the Monarchs all-time.