WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest women’s tennis team (7-2, 0-0 ACC) closed out their home stand in dominant fashion with a 4-0 sweep over James Madison (0-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) on Sunday at the James Leighton Outdoor Tennis Stadium. This win wraps up their lone home series this month as they prepare for a challenging six-match road trip.
Doubles Dominance
The Demon Deacons set the tone early, sweeping the doubles matches to take the first point of the day.
- Nevena Carton and Kady Tannenbaum cruised to a 6-1 win at second doubles against Kraleva/Rietmann, securing an early lead for the team.
- Makayla Mills and Krystal Blanch followed with a 6-2 victory over Oliveira/Williams at first doubles, clinching the doubles point for the Deacs.
- Zhang/Pate led their match 5-3 at third doubles when the point was secured, leaving the match unfinished.
With this success, Wake Forest improved to 16-2 in doubles play this season, led by the No. 36-ranked pair of Carton and Tannenbaum, who now hold a 6-1 record together. Blanch and Mills improved to 4-1 as a duo.
Singles Action: Clinching the Sweep
Wake Forest carried the momentum into singles play, where they quickly secured the necessary points to sweep the match.
- Brianna Baldi continued her strong freshman campaign, defeating Hope Moulin at sixth singles in straight sets (6-1, 6-4) to give the Deacs a 2-0 lead.
- Sankavi Gownder, who now leads the team with a 7-1 record, followed with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over Corinna Rietmann at fifth singles, extending the lead to 3-0.
- Whitley Pate clinched the match and the sweep with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Sophie Williams at third singles.
The remaining singles matches were left unfinished as the Deacs had already secured the victory.
Singles Results:
- Nevena Carton (WF) vs. Daria Munteanu (JMU) – 7-5, 2-1 UF
- No. 73 Krystal Blanch (WF) vs. Ines Oliveira (JMU) – 6-2, 3-4 UF
- Whitley Pate (WF) def. Sophie Williams (JMU) – 6-2, 6-0
- Kady Tannenbaum (WF) vs. Mia Saveljic (JMU) – 6-4, 1-5 UF
- Sankavi Gownder (WF) def. Corinna Rietmann (JMU) – 6-3, 6-2
- Brianna Baldi (WF) def. Hope Moulin (JMU) – 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 5, 3
Doubles Results:
- Blanch/Mills (WF) def. Oliveira/Williams (JMU) – 6-2
- No. 36 Carton/Tannenbaum (WF) def. Kraleva/Rietmann (JMU) – 6-1
- Zhang/Pate (WF) vs. Munteanu/Moulin (JMU) – 5-3 UF
Order of finish: 2, 1
Coach Wyshner’s Thoughts
Head coach Jeff Wyshner was pleased with the team’s improved doubles performance and their ability to clinch the match efficiently:
“Good job by the group today. We came out and played much better in our doubles matches. That was a big goal for us after struggling on Friday. The group did a professional job in singles play today. We got pushed at times and hung in there even though I didn’t think our energy was great. Brianna [Baldi], Sankavi [Gownder], and Whitley [Pate] took care of business to get us off the courts and clinch the match for us. We can enjoy the day off tomorrow and then we’ll get after it the rest of the week as we look ahead to a couple of big matches at South Carolina next Saturday.”
What’s Next:
The Demon Deacons now hit the road for a six-match road trip, starting with a doubleheader next weekend against No. 22 South Carolina and Western Carolina.
