WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – It is over. But it is not over. North Carolina A&T saw its 2023 season end Friday with a 4-0 loss to the top-seeded William & Mary Tribe in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Tennis Championship Tournament at William & Mary's Mackesy Tennis Center.
The Aggies, who entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed, will see their historic season end at 9-8. It will mark the first time they have finished above .500 in modern history. With their win on Thursday over Hampton in the tournament's first round, the Aggies also claimed their first postseason since beating Coppin State in 2005. The Tribe improved to 13-5 and will advance to face No. 4 seed Elon on Saturday.
"We showed a great fight against a very good team," said A&T head coach Dejon Bivens. "I am very proud that we met the occasion with such a great mentality. My ladies are big-match players and showed that today. The good news is our team is very young and gaining experience. If they maintain their focus, they will be a very difficult team to beat in the future."
A&T's six-person roster consisted of five freshmen and one sophomore. The Aggies played with four players in their season opener and surprisingly won. They played their first seven matches undermanned, going 3-4. However, once freshman Isabela Romanichen entered the lineup after recovering from an injury, the Aggies earned three shutout wins, including one over CAA foe Towson.
But on Friday, the Aggies faced their most formidable challenge of the season. In beating A&T, the Tribe advanced to its 10th straight CAA tournament semifinal round. Plus, the Aggies were coming off a four-hour tussle with Hampton on Thursday, while the top-seeded Tribe earned a bye.
And the Tribe looked fresh, earning the doubles point with two impressive showings. Emma Fernald and Elisa Van Meeteren defeated Nuria Sanz and Cielo Tapia-Cruz 6-0 at No. 2 doubles, and Hedda Gurholt and Emma Pell defeated the A&T duo of Nour Guueblaoui and Asima Sazan 6-0.
Sanz and Tapia-Cruz were the most successful tandem for the Aggies, finishing the season at 7-7. The No. 1 doubles match went unfinished with A&T's Lana Caculovic and Romanichen trailing Sofiya Kuzina and Ine Stange 4-2.
Singles play started with Romanichen losing to Fernald 6-0, 6-4 at No. 4 singles. Pell then defeated Sazan at No. 6 singles, 6-1, 6-2. Finally, the Trible secured the win with Kuzina defeating Sanz at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-4. Sanz ended her season with an 11-2 record and finished with the team lead in wins.
Tapia-Cruz's No. 2 singles match ended with her losing the first set 7-5. She finished the season 9-4 and has 15 wins over the first two years of her career. Gueblaoui and Stange had a heated contest before it ended with two competitors in a first-set tiebreaker.
Gurholt defeated Caculovic 7-5 in the first set before the match was halted, with Gurholt leading 3-2 in the second.
"We will be back stronger and healthier," said Bivens. "This team's best tennis is in front of them. Lana is amazing. Cielo is a warrior. Nuria is a super competitor like Nour. Isabela is a hidden gem. There is so much more they can do. This is just the first step toward greatness. It's been a wonderful season for the ladies, and we went out against the best. We fought until the end. But this is not our end, just the beginning."
