Wake Forest Loses a 4-3 Heartbreaker to No. 29 Miami in the ACC Championships

Thursday, April 16

Cary, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Wake Forest University

(5) Miami

Wake Forest Loses a 4-3 Heartbreaker to No. 29 Miami in the ACC Championships

4/16/2026 9:51:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

The Demon Deacons are eliminated in the third round of this year’s conference tournament.

By: Joseph Baker

CARY, N.C. – Wake Forest's (13-13, 4-8 ACC) 2026 ACC Championships journey comes to an end after falling, 4-3, in a hard-fought match against No. 29 Miami (14-6, 8-4 ACC).

After dropping the doubles point, the Demon Deacons stormed ahead in singles. Evie Oxford got the Deacs on the board with a win over No. 99 Jaquelyn Ogunwale, then Sankavi Gownder and Kady Tannenbaum added wins to force a 3-3 tie with just one match remaining. Miami's Raquel Gonzalez (No. 42) got the better of Wake Forest's Nevena Carton (No. 104) in a third-set thriller to send the Hurricanes to the quarterfinals.

Miami nabbed the opening point after and entertaining doubles session. Gownder and Oxford fought hard, but couldn't complete the comeback as they fell to Sebastianna Scilipoti and Sofia Rocchetti, 6-4, to open the match. On court one, Raquel Gonzalez and Dominika Podhajecka edged out No. 66 Nevena Carton and Kady Tannenbaum, 7-5, after their match was tied at five apiece. The win gave Miami the early 1-0 advantage. The Hurricanes picked up a third, inconsequential win as Ogunwale and Daria Volosova beat Krystal Blanch and Aubrey Nisbet in a tiebreaker.

Wake Forest responded with one of its strongest singles performances of the season. After Scilipoti beat Heidi Bulger to make it 2-0, Oxford picked up her team-leading 18th singles win of the season. With the win, she improved to 18-2 in dual singles matches. After Miami responded with a win in second singles, Gownder won her 17th of the season, beating Volosova in straight sets in fifth singles. Gownder's incredible .944 dual-singles win percentage leads the team and ranks second-best in school history, trailing only Bea Bielik's .946 mark set in 2002.

Tannenbaum, who was forced to win a second set tiebreaker with the match on the line, pulled out a gutsy win to level the score at 3-3. After dropping the first set, she beat Podhajecka 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 in back-to-back sets to earn the Demon Deacons their third singles win. It all came down to Gonzalez and Carton on court one. After winning the first set and dropping the second, Wake Forest's top singles player fell agonizingly short as No. 42 Gonzalez pushed the Hurricanes across the finish line with a 6-4 set three victory.

Doubles Results

Raquel Gonzalez/Dominika Podhajecka (MIA) def. No. 66 Nevena Carton/Kady Tannenbaum, 7-5
Sebastianna Scilipoti/Sofia Rocchetti (MIA) def. Sankavi Gownder/Evie Oxford (WFU), 6-4
Krystal Blanch/Aubrey Nisbet (WFU) vs. Jaquelyn Ogunwale/Daria Volosova (MIA), 7-6 (7-2)

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles Results

No. 42 Raquel Gonzalez (MIA) def. No. 104 Nevena Carton (WFU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 63 Sofia Rocchetti (MIA) def. Krystal Blanch (WFU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Evie Oxford (WFU) def. No. 99 Jaquelyn Ogunwale (MIA), 6-4, 6-4
Sebastianna Scilipoti (MIA) def. Heidi Bulger (WFU), 6-1, 6-0
Sankavi Gownder (WFU) def. Daria Volosova (MIA), 7-5, 7-5
Kady Tannenbaum (WFU) def. Dominika Podhajecka (MIA), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3

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

How It Happened

Scilipoti/Rocchetti earned the first win of the day, defeating Gownder/Oxford in second doubles.
First and third doubles were both tied at 5-5 with the opening point on the line.
Blanch/Nisbet came from behind to take a 6-5 lead in third doubles.
Gonzalez/Podhajecka overcame an early deficit to take down No. 66 Carton/Tannenbaum in first doubles.
- Miami leads, 1-0.
Blanch was the first player on either team to win a set, taking an early lead on court two.
Oxford came back from a 4-2 deficit to win set one, 6-4.
Gownder took the first set, 7-5, from Aely Arai in fifth singles. The Deacs won the opening set on four of the six courts.
Scilipoti took down Bulger in straight sets to put Miami up, 2-0.
No. 63 Rocchetti forced a third set, beating Blanch in second singles.
Oxford got the Deacs on the board with a win over No. 99 Ogunwale.
No. 63 Rocchetti completed the comeback, downing Blanch to put the Hurricanes up 3-1.
Gownder and Tannenbaum earned clutch wins to tie the match at three apiece.
No. 42 Gonzalez won the final two sets against No. 104 Carton to clinch the match win for Miami
- Miami wins, 4-3.