The University of Mary Washington made an impressive showing this season in tennis and women’s lacrosse.
The UMW men’s and women’s tennis teams capped the spring 2012 athletics calendar by sending three players to compete in the NCAA Division III Individual Championships in Cary, N.C., in late May. Evan Charles ’15 and Donato Rizzolo ’15 advanced all the way to the national semifinals of the men’s doubles championship. Lindsay
Raulston ’14 advanced to the women’s singles championship, falling in the first round.
Charles and Rizzolo, who helped the Eagles get to their 13th consecutive Capital Athletic Conference Championship and advance to the third round of the NCAA team competition, gained All-America status by defeating Kyle Gerber and John Healey of Case Western Reserve with a score of 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (1).
The freshman duo then avenged a regular-season loss to Mark Bloom and Patrick Lipscomb of the University of Redlands by winning a three-set decision over them in the national quarterfinals, with a score of 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. As they’d done in their first-round match, Charles and Rizzolo started slowly, falling behind 3-0 in the first set. The teams traded points on serve to move the score to 4-1 in favor of Redlands, and despite several break points, UMW fell in the first set, 6-3.
The second set saw the Eagles firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Redlands responded with a break and hold to move the score to 3-2, and the teams traded points on serve until UMW led, 6-5. The Eagles broke serve and gained the second set with a lob winner on set point to tie the match at one set apiece.
Rizzolo opened the third set by holding serve, and UMW broke and held to push the score to 3-0. After both teams held twice, the Eagles led, 5-2, and broke serve on the third match point to come away with the 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 win. The duo’s run ended in the national semifinals when they lost to Amrik Donkena and Mya Smith-Dennis of Gustavus Adolphus College, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Playing in her first NCAA Individual Championship, Raulston, reigning Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year, fell in the first round of the national singles draw to Kara Shoemaker of national champion Williams College, 6-3, 6-4. Raulston closed the year with an overall singles record of 25-4.
The women’s lacrosse team advanced to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in May, toppling state foe Washington and Lee University in the opening round, 16-8, before falling to second-ranked SUNY Cortland, 12-5. Catherine Kennedy ’12 and Allie Kimmelman ’12, the most productive scoring combo in program history, both gained All-America honors.
Kennedy, a four-time All-American for the Eagles, closed her career as the program’s all-time leader in goals (299) and total points (387), scoring 62 goals and 17 assists in 2012, as the Eagles finished 14-5. Kimmelman is the school’s all-time leader in assists, with 210, and ranks second – behind only Kennedy – in career points, with 348. She gains the third All- America award of her career.