Wake Forest women’s tennis (4-3) continued their home winning streak with a convincing win over Memphis in their first-ever meeting on Thursday. After nine hard-fought battles, the Deacs earned the victory 6-1, picking up the doubles point in thrilling fashion, taking five of the six singles matches. 

Wake Forest’s Evie Oxford and Sankavi Gownder cruised to a 6-3 set win over Memphis’ Natalia Koppova and Rebecca Frant to grab the first doubles match. The Tigers then evened it up after Clemence Thouard and Alicia Mall defeated Wake Forest’s Heidi Bulger and Aubrey Nisbet 6-3. 

In a dramatic deciding match, Wake Forest’s Nevena Carton and Kady Tannenbaum went down 4-2 to Memphis’ Sofiia Mykhailets and Emma Dvorackova. They continued to fight back, breaking back and leveling the match at 4-4. Carton and Tannenbaum forced a tiebreak to bring it to six apiece, where they emerged victorious in the breaker, 7-6 (7-5). 

This was the momentum shift that Wake Forest needed to finish the match and leave with a win. 

Gownder was first to finish her match, defeating her opponent in dominant fashion 6-1, 6-2. Both Tannenbaum and Bulger lost their first set, but battled back to win the final two sets. Wake Forest clinched the match, 4-0. Nisbet got her first singles victory of the season, and Oxford picked up yet another singles win to make it 5-0 in favor of the Deacs. 

Senior Nevena Carton fell in an exciting third-set tiebreaker, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), just short of her 100th career win. She looked to reach the milestone when the Deacs hosted Liberty University.

“It was an important win for us, being down to just six players,” Head Coach Jeff Wyshner said post-match. “Now, we get to transition to playing outdoors tomorrow and get ready for Liberty on Saturday!” 

On Saturday, Wake Forest faced off against a strong Liberty team who came into the weekend with a 5-2 record. In their first outdoor match of the Spring, the Demon Deacons rolled to a 5-0 record on home turf, defeating Liberty 5-2. 

Nevena Carton earned her 100th career win after she and her doubles partner, Kady Tannenbaum, defeated Liberty’s No. 1 doubles 6-3. But she didn’t stop there. Later in the day, Carton picked up number 101 as she took down Liberty’s No. 1 singles Daniella O’Neill in straight sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. 

The doubles pair of Oxford and Gownder bageled their opponents 6-0, securing the doubles point for the Deacs.  

Liberty’s Milana Tsulygina defeated Heidi Bulger in straight sets to put Liberty on the board.

Three matches went to a first-set tiebreak, with Wake Forest winning all three (Carton, Tannenbaum and Oxford). Oxford winning her first set in a tie break gave her all the confidence she needed to win the next one, as she took down her opponent 6-0 in the second set. Tannenbaum’s match saw two tiebreaks. She eventually earned the win 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6) to clinch the match for the Deacs. 

“Really excited with how we played today,” Wyshner said. “There were some really high-pressure moments for us, and we handled them fantastically and played well when it mattered most.”

The Demon Deacons now prepare for a triple header next weekend, where they will host Charlotte (Feb. 20), William & Mary (Feb. 21) and Appalachian State (Feb. 22).