Friday
As four Demon Deacons saw their first set slip away in a Friday matchup against UNC Charlotte, the 49ers capitalized on the early momentum to end Wake Forest’s home winning streak.
Wake Forest suffered their first home loss of the season to Charlotte in a 4-0 match that got away from them quickly.
The Demon Deacons’ No. 1 doubles duo of Nevena Carton and Kady Tannenbaum fell in first to Charlotte’s nationally-ranked pairing of No. 20 Ni Xi and Sara Suchankova, 6-2. Krystal Blanch and Aubrey Nisbet then lost third doubles 6-1, and the first point of the evening went to the 49ers, giving Charlotte the momentum.
“Losing doubles points in what is going to be a really close match gives the other team a lot of momentum,” Head Coach Jeff Wyshner said.
Charlotte then swept Wake Forest’s second, third and fourth singles to take the match without letting the Demon Deacons get on the board. Tannenbaum retired 3 games into her match at 2-1, giving Charlotte its second point.
Charlotte kept rolling, as their second singles defeated Blanch, 6-4, 6-2. Not long after, the 49ers defeated Heidi Bulger at fourth singles, 6-2, 6-2, as the 49ers claimed their first-ever win over the Demon Deacons.
Nevena Carton, Evie Oxford and Sankavi Gownder all won a set before it was too late and their matches were left unfinished.
“Credit to a very good Charlotte team for playing really well tonight,” Wyshner said. “They came out and played a good doubles point, and while our doubles is getting a little better, it still isn’t where it needs to be. We are definitely fighting right now, and we’ll have to do that tomorrow and Sunday!”
Saturday
Wake Forest looked to bounce back as the Tribe of William and Mary traveled to Winston-Salem for a Saturday afternoon matchup. The Demon Deacons cruised to a 6-1 victory, grabbing the doubles point and nearly sweeping in singles play.
All three doubles matches were tight to start play. Carton and Blanch, paired for the first time this season, defeated their opponents in a competitive match, 6-3. Wake Forest’s Oxford and Gownder fell in their matchup, 6-2, leaving Heidi Bulger and Aubrey Nisbet to snag the doubles point for the Demon Deacons.
The pair came through under pressure and defeated a tough William and Mary pair, 6-3, to clinch the doubles session.
Carton started the singles play off strong with a 6-1, 6-0 handling of opponent Sia Chaudry. Gownder and Oxford both won in straight sets to clinch the match at 4-0. Bulger made it 5-0 as she bested her opponent in a tight 6-2, 6-4 match.
Nisbet fell in a hard-fought, third-set tiebreaker, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4), to Gonzalez-Galino for William & Mary to get on the board.
To round out the successful day, Krystal Blanch ended the match with a third-set, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
“Good response from the group from yesterday to today,” Wyshner said post match. “Courts two-through-six all had moments where the opponent was on a bit of a roll and making things hard on us, and we handled those moments the best we have all year.”
Sunday
The Demon Deacons wrapped up non-conference play on Sunday with a 4-2 comeback win over Appalachian State University. After App State grabbed the doubles point and jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Wake Forest quickly responded in singles.
App State took an early lead on all three doubles courts, but Evie Oxford and Sankavi Gownder fought back to defeat their opponents, 6-3. Wake Forest’s first and third doubles were unable to make a comeback, and the Mountaineers captured the doubles point.
Nationally ranked (No. 9) Savannah Dada-Mascoll of App State defeated Wake Forest’s Nevena Carton 6-1, 6-3 to give the Mountaineers an early 2-0 lead.
Oxford and Gownder both won in straight sets to propel Wake Forest to the lead for the first time in the match. Blanch secured her win despite being down 4-5 at one point. Bulger clinched the match with a close win over Allegra Hodson, 6-2, 7-5.
The Demon Deacons will travel to the West Coast next weekend to take on Stanford on Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m. and California on Feb. 28 at 3:00 p.m.
