NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Norfolk State women's tennis team won the last four singles matches of the day to come away with a 5-4 win over Christopher Newport on Friday afternoon at the Eyre Courts.
 
The Captains, playing their first match of the season, won two of the three doubles matches and were victorious in the first two singles matches that were completed. But three NSU seniors helped lead the way to the win, improving their record to 2-3 on the year.
 
Two of those seniors had to rally after dropping the first sets in their singles matches. Paula Fortuno lost 6-4 at the No. 1 spot before coming back to defeat Reagan Delp, 6-4, 6-3, in the next two sets. At the No. 4 spot, Bruna Goncalves also came up short in the first set, 6-4, to Kiersten Chang before coming away with wins in the next two sets, 6-3, 7-5.
 
Those two matches ended the overall match, and they came after senior Zoe Fraser and freshman Laura Ruiz had also won in singles. Fraser took care of Kara Ferner, 6-4, 6-4, at the third spot in the lineup. Ruiz won 7-5, 6-1 over Karina Crivtonencu at the No. 6 position.
 
"Today was a hard fought win," said head coach Larry Holmes. "Being down 4-1 on the brink of losing the match, the ladies found a way to pull through, starting with Laura's win, then Zoe. Bruna and Paula played long matches today, and they both found a way to win. I am pleased with a win like this because it tested us mentally."
 
Fraser and Goncalves also won at No. 2 doubles over Delp and Ferner, 8-6. CNU got a pair of points with wins at the other two doubles matches. Amanda Yermal and Tessa Trate won at No. 1 doubles over Fortuno and Ruiz, 8-5. Chang and Megan Bauer defeated the Spartan freshmen duo of Lydia Oviedo and Andrea Barcenas at the third position, 8-3.
 
Trate (6-4, 6-2) also won in singles over Barcenas at the No. 2 slot, and Yermal earned a 6-3, 6-2 win over Oviedo at the fifth spot in the lineup.
 
The Spartans will head to Richmond on Sunday to take on the Spiders at 11 a.m.