The women’s tennis team opened up conference play on the right foot this Saturday, winning 7-0 against the Towson Tigers (7-6, 1-2). The Seahawks (9-3, 1-0) completed their third sweep of the season. Coach Clark was happy to see the Seahawks start conference play well.

 “It’s nice to get that first conference game out of the way,” he said. “We competed well at each spot; It’s always tough to beat a team 7-0. Always nice to beat a conference school.”

After reaching the first conference championship game in UNC Wilmington women’s tennis history last year, the Seahawks appear ready to make another run. The team posts one of the best records in the CAA, and last year’s champion William & Mary has lost five straight.

Though the wind picked halfway through the singles matches, it didn’t seem to bother the Seahawks.

“It was a factor, but we know how to play in it,” Clark said. We practice in it all the time—we don’t use that as an excuse or pay too much attention to it.”

Reigning CAA Player of the Week Christine Kharkevitch continued her stellar play, increasing her record to 11-1 after defeating Ariel Burke 6-1, 6-3. The win is the ninth straight for Kharkevitch.  Should she be able to continue at her current pace, her .916 winning percentage would be the best season singles record in school history.

In the additional singles matches, Angie Sekely defeated Nani Lizana 6-2, 6-2. Olga Blank defeated Ayana Dow 6-2, 6-2. Annika Sillanpaa defeated Lorena Ferrer 6-1, 6-1. Alyssa Ritchie defeated Sophie Lesage, 6-4, 6-3 and Alix Theodossiou defeated Cailey Easdale 6-0, 6-3.

In doubles sets, Blank teamed up with Kharkevitch to defeat Lizana and Burke 8-3. Sekely and Ritche defeated Ferrer and Easdale 8-0, and Annika Sillanpaa teamed up with Miller Hales to defeat Nisha Shah and Sophie Lesage of Towson 8-5.

The team now boasts a four game winning streak—the longest of the season. Clark attributes this to losing some tough games earlier in the season. All three loses for the Seahawks have come by a 4-3 decision.

“We’ve lost three close matches to very good teams—we’ve been right there, a couple points away,” he said. “I think that’s ended up helping us down the road, playing matches like this. We’ve been in tough matches and we’re more comfortable having that experience now.

After continuing the home stand against West Virginia State on Sunday and traveling to Greenville to take on East Carolina, the Seahawks will resume conference play against Delaware on March 30.