SALEM, Va. – The Randolph College women's tennis made their second consecutive trip to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament in 2013, but came up short Sunday afternoon falling to No. 2 seed Roanoke College 5-0. The WildCats finished the season 10-7, which is the most wins in program history.
The Maroons (13-3) jumped out in front early, earning all three doubles points. Randolph's No. 1 pairing of Kaitlyn Kolster (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) and Patricia Verdezoto (Cuenza, Azuay, Ecuador/Bilingue Interamericano) fell 8-2 to Laura Dodson and Briell Smith of Roanoke. The Maroons also earned No. 2 doubles, as Corbin Leitch and Kristen McDowell knocked off Dina Velazco (Barquisimeto, Venezuela / Colegio Las Fuertes) and Anna Culpepper (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian).
Emmalyn Snead (Fredericksburg, Va./James Monroe) and Danielle Lewis (Kingston, Jamaica/Immaculate Conception) played well and battled for the WildCats at No. 3, but fell 8-6 to the Maroon pairing of Haley Goodes and Brianna Carroll. Up 3-0, Roanoke had to win just two matches to move on to the conference semifinals.
Smith picked up a No. 3 singles win with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Culpepper, and the Maroons clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-0 No. 5 singles win for Goodes over Snead. The other four matches were left unsettled, though Lewis and Kaitlyn Diskerud were tied at five in their first set at No. 6 when the match was completed.
Kolster finished the season with the sixth-most victories in a single campaign with 11, while Velazco was right behind with 10 on the year. Verdezoto is now third on the all-time list for wins in a career after only two seasons, nine behind the 30 from Eileen Wekel. Verdezoto's .724 winning percentage is the best since the mid-1990s.
The Maroons will move on to play Hollins University next Saturday afternoon in Virginia Beach, Va., after HU knocked off Randolph-Macon College 5-2 this afternoon.
--RANDOLPH--
