DANVILLE, Va. – Averett University women's tennis opened the ODAC tournament with a swift 4-0 win over Guilford College in its home finale at the Averett Tennis Courts on Tuesday afternoon.
Averett (15-4, 10-1 ODAC) breezed through doubles, as play wrapped up in just under 30 minutes with the Cougars pouncing on Guilford (7-9, 5-6 ODAC) early.
Siddhi Khandelwal and
Jennika Jaison cruised to a 6-1 over the Quakers' Ashley Belnap and Erika Mendez, and clinched the first point with
Brenda Poulakidas and
Ravaka Ramanantoanina, with the same set score win, 6-1.
Just three singles wins remained for the home side for a yet another semifinal berth.
Dilara Sultanova got Averett a step closer without dropping a game, 6-0, 6-0 versus Jolie Nhouyvanisvong, for her fourth straight win, and eighth of the season.
Annika Kellerer followed suit, as the Cougars' most in-form singles player attained her 13th win in 16 tries, and eighth in the ODAC over Bethany Lupo of the Quakers, not dropping a game. With one more point left to clinch, Khandelwal did just that, defeating Erika Mendez, 6-2, 6-2 to seal the 4-0 win.
The Cougars advance to the ODAC semifinals for the third straight season since joining the conference, playing No. 6 seeded Randolph College, who upset third-seeded Sweet Briar in the quarterfinals today. The rematch between Averett and the WildCats is set for Saturday, May 3 at Washington and Lee's campus. Start time is slated for 11:00 a.m.
