Score: ECU 4, VCU 3
Location: Greenville, N.C. 
Records: VCU 3-4 (0-0 Atlantic 10), ECU 1-0
 
The Short Story: VCU Women's Tennis fought through four three-set battles and multiple tiebreakers against East Carolina, but ultimately fell just short in a tightly contested 4-3 decision on Saturday afternoon.
 
Opening Serve

• Today's matchup marked the Rams' seventh competition of the spring campaign, while East Carolina opened its 2026 season.
• Entering the day, VCU held a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series against ECU, with four of the eight previous meetings decided by a single point, and today's 4-3 result was no different.

Doubles

• The doubles point began in the Rams' favor as Viktoria Lackova and Sara Alba earned a convincing 6-2 win at No. 3. The victory moved the duo to 5-2 in doubles play this season. However, the Pirates quickly responded, securing 6-2 wins on courts two and one to claim the doubles point.

Singles

• Despite dropping the doubles point, the Rams responded with resilience in singles play, as Sofia Jane Thorne delivered a statement win over ECU's Ivona Savekova in a marathon three-set battle at the top of the lineup. Similar to her match against William & Mary that also went the distance, Thorne persevered through the swings of momentum and found another gear in the third set that her opponent simply could not match. With the victory, Thorne has now won four of her last five matches, all coming at No. 1, where she continues to anchor the Rams lineup.
• Next to finish on court three was Viktoria Lackova. Lackova battled to claim the opening set, 6-4, then held off a late push from Veronica Pavlenko in the second, closing out a 7-6(1) tiebreak to secure the straight-set victory. With this victory Lackova improves to 2-2 in her last four contests. 
• On court five, Andrea Magallanes competed in a lengthy three-set match against the Pirates' Reece Calvo. After dropping the first set 4-6, Magallanes regrouped to win the second 6-3 and the third 6-4, bringing the Rams within one point of victory. With the win, Magallanes moves to 4-2 in singles play.

Doubles Results
1. Kim Auerswald/Reece Calvo (ECU) def. Sofia Jane Thorne/Andrea Magallanes (VCU) 6-2
2. Ivona Savekova/S. Moody (ECU) def. Mariam Ibrahim/Elicia Kim (VCU) 6-2
3. Sara Alba/Viktoria Lackova (VCU) def. Veronica Pavlenko/Xenia Jeromin (ECU) 6-2
 
Singles Results
1. Sofia Jane Thorne (VCU) def. Ivona Savekova (ECU) 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
2. Kim Auerswald (ECU) def. Mariam Ibrahim (VCU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Viktoria Lackova (VCU) def. Veronica Pavlenko (ECU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
4. Xenia Jeromin (ECU) def. Elicia Kim (VCU), 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (2-7), 6-4
5. Andrea Magallanes (VCU) def. Reece Calvo (ECU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Joan Madi (ECU) def. Sara Alba (VCU) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
 
Order of Finish: Doubles: 3, 2, 1   Singles: 2, 1, 3, 5, 6, 4
 
Up Next: VCU will be back in action on Saturday, February 21, as they host Howard at 10 a.m. at Willow Oaks Country Club.