ELON, N.C. (April 25, 2024) – The Hampton Lady Pirates tennis team defeated the Hofstra Pride 4-2 in the first round of the CAA Championship. Sofia Sokolova clinched the final point to seal the victory. This is Hampton's first CAA Championship match win.

No. 8 Hampton will face No. 1 overall Delaware tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

How It Happened

Hampton earned the doubles point and won three singles matches to win the match.

Sokolova and Meiri Okuwaki dispatched of Lea Forste-Dinell and Ava Veneziano in quick fashion 6-2, to improve their doubles record to 14-3. Masa Mitic and Lucia Jorrin Fernandez secured the point after beating Sabira Mohamed and Deniz Soyer despite trailing 0-3 (6-4). This was their fourth win of the season.

In singles, Okuwaki dominated Soyer in two sets that both ended 6-1. She leads the team with a 13-5 record. Mitic grabbed the second point for the Lady Pirates after a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Veneziano. Sokolova took down Kaitlyn Ferguson in a three-set thriller (2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3). Mitic is 12-7 in singles and Sokolova is 10-10.

To view all of the women's records click here.

Scouting Delaware (18-6)

Pablo Montana is coaching the Blue Hens in his fourth season with the program. The team is 5-0 in CAA play this season with victories over Monmouth (7-0), Hofstra (6-1), Stony Brook (7-0), Drexel (6-1), and Towson (4-0).

Maryia Hrynashka and Alex Staiculescu are both 17-4 this season in singles. Eliza Askarova and Alex Staiculescu hold the best doubles record at 16-3 and teammates Julieta Honrubia and Maryia Hrynashka follow at 12-3.

Hampton and Delaware have never played each other.