Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – North Carolina A&T women's tennis received its most formidable challenge of the season on Sunday against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, the 28th-ranked team in the nation, at the Wake Forest Tennis Courts. 

The Demon Deacons defeated the Aggies 4-0, dropping A&T to 7-7 with one regular-season match remaining before the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament Championship at Mackesy Tennis Courts at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va. The Demon Deacons improved to 16-12. 

Wake Forest started its quest to claim the doubles point on Sunday with a win at No. 3 doubles as the A&T duo of Nour Gueblaoui and Asima Sazan lost to Maddie Lynch and Jingyi Li 6-0. Wake Forest clinched the doubles point once Whitley Pate and Brooke Killingsworth defeated Lana Caculovic and Isabela Romanichen 6-3. 

The Aggies tandem of Nuria Sanz and Cielo Tapia Cruz trailed Mia Ahmad and Casie Wooten 4-3 when the match ended because it no longer had an impact on deciding the doubles point. 

"We played better than we did the last time," said Sanz, referring to the duo's 6-0 loss to UNC Greensboro on Wednesday. "We were more aggressive at going to the net." 

The Aggies fell behind 2-0 as the singles competitions started with the Aggies No. 1 singles player, Caculovic, losing to the 49th-ranked player in the nation in Wooten, 6-0, 6-1. The loss halted Caculovic's three-match singles winning streak, dropping the freshman to 9-3 on the season. 

Sanz did get to complete her singles match as she lost to Nevena Carton, 6-0, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. After the freshman started her season and her career at 10-0, she lost her last two singles competitions. 

"I didn't play well," Sanz said. "The first set was so fast that I didn't stop and think about what I should do better and change. In the change between sets, I tried to figure it out. What can I do to win more points and make it more difficult for my opponent? I started hitting the cross-court shots and taking the opportunities that I had close to the net." 

Wake Forest clinched the win at No. 6 singles. Li defeated Sazan 6-1, 6-1. At No. 2 singles, Tapia-Cruz lost the first set 6-2 to Killingsworth. She did lead Killingsworth 2-1 in the second, but the Demon Deacons had already clinched the win. 

No. 4 singles ended Lynch on the verge of beating Romanichen. However, officials ended the match with Lynch leading 6-0, 5-2. Gueblaoui was down 6-3, 4-1 to Pate at No. 5 singles when their competition ended. A&T's regular-season finale will occur in Raleigh, NC, against Shaw University at noon. The CAA championships will take place April 20-23. 

"Tomorrow, we have another match," said Sanz. "It's a new opportunity to get better, work and fight. Let's keep working. We're so close to our conference tournament."