Anik Cepeda, Hope Johnson Upset No. 4 Doubles Team in the Country at Duke

01/22/11 2:00PM

Durham, N.C. - Sophomore Anik Cepeda and freshman Hope Johnson highlighted the No. 56 William and Mary women’s tennis effort against No. 7 Duke in the season-opening dual-match on Saturday afternoon at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. Cepeda and Johnson, playing together for the third time this year, knocked off the No. 4-ranked team in the country at the No. 1 doubles position, but the Blue Devils went on to claim the team victory, 7-0.

Cepeda and Johnson led for the majority of the match, taking a break advantage late at 7-5. After the Blue Devil team of Nadine Fahoum and Ellah Nze closed to 7-6, the Tribe tandem took the final game to clinch the upset win. It marked the highest ranked doubles win in dual-match play for any W&M tandem in three years. Megan Moulton-Levy and Katarina Zoricic were the last to accomplish the feat, defeating a No. 4-ranked Fresno State team on March 7, 2008.

Fahoum and Nze advanced to the semifinals of the ITA All-American Championship this fall and entered the match at 9-2 on the year. With the victory, Cepeda and Johnson, who played for the first time together at the Kitty Harrison Invitational to close out the fall season, improved to 2-1 overall.

Despite the upset win for the Green and Gold, Duke took the opening point of the match by claiming wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions. The Blue Devils went on to sweep the singles matches to claim the 7-0 victory.

The Tribe returns to action when it hosts No. 74 Wisconsin on Sunday, Jan. 23, at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The match is slated for a 10 a.m. start time. Last season, W&M tallied a narrow 4-3 win over the Badgers in Wisconsin.

#7 Duke 7, #56 William and Mary 0
Singles
No. 1 - #25 Nadine Fahoum (Duke) def. Nina Vulovich (W&M) – 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 – #4 Reka Zsilinszka (Duke) def. Hope Johnson (W&M) – 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 – #71 Elizabeth Plotkin (Duke) def. Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) – 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 - #49 Ellah Nze (Duke) def. Anik Cepeda (W&M) – 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 – Rachel Kahan (Duke) def. Katie Kargl (W&M) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 – Hanna Mar (Duke) def. Marivick Mamiit (W&M) – 6-3, 6-0
Finishing Order: 1, 2, 3*, 4, 6, 5

Doubles
No. 1 – Cepeda/Johnson (W&M) def. #4 Nze/Fahoum (Duke) – 8-6
No. 2 - #39 Gorny/Mary Clayton (Duke) def. Vulovich/Mesgarzadeh (W&M) – 8-2
No. 3 – Reka Zsilinszka/Plotkin (Duke) def. Mamiit/Kargl (W&M) – 8-2
Finishing Order: 2, 3*, 1