Virginia Blanks Princeton 4-0 in NCAA Second Round

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s tennis team (24-4) advanced to the 2024 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship’s Round of 16 with a 4-0 victory against Princeton (16-9) on Sunday (May 5) on the indoor courts of the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

The Cavaliers will host Vanderbilt (14-10) in the Round of 16 on Saturday, May 11 at 1 p.m. at the Virginia Tennis Facility. Admission is free.

Virginia won the doubles point and took singles courts two, four and six. Senior Sara Ziodato won the clinching point.

Juniors Mélodie Collard and Elaine Chervinsky opened the match with a 6-0 victory on the top doubles court. Senior Hibah Shaikh and grad student Natasha Subhash clinched the point with a  6-1 victory on court two.

In singles, Collard and sophomore Annabelle Xu finished back-to-back matches on courts six and two to put UVA ahead 3-0. Courts three and five were poised to finish when Ziodato served out her 7-5, 6-4 victory against Madeline Jessup on court four.

Vanderbilt upset No. 12 Ohio State 4-3 in Columbus, Ohio, to advance to the Super Regional.

FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY

“We’re definitely excited to be playing in the Round of 16 next weekend. Princeton gave us a great fight today. They are a really strong team who we’ve seen the last three years at this stage in the tournament. I was really proud of the way that girls came out, especially in doubles. I felt like they were very focused and played really organized and just took every point so seriously and did a great job. I think that carried over into singles. So I am just really proud of the squad and the way they came out so focused and disciplined and organized and had great composure throughout.”

MATCH NOTES

• This is Virginia’s fourth straight year advancing to the Round of 16 and second time in three years they have hosted a Super Regional
• Virginia is the No. 5 seed in the tournament but is ranked No. 6 in the ITA rankings
• Virginia is 14-0 this season at home and has won 21 consecutive home matches going back to last season
• Virginia is 27-1 at home over the last two seasons
• Both Sara Ziodato and Mélodie Collard logged their 30th singles victories of the year. Ziodato is 30-11 and Collard 30-9
• Princeton is No. 41 in the latest ITA Rankings
• This is Princeton’s third straight year playing in the Charlottesville Regional
• Vanderbilt is No. 31 in the ITA team rankings. They were the No. 2 seed in the Columbus Regional

#6 Virginia 4, #41 Princeton 0

Singles competition
1. #24 Hibah Shaikh (VA) vs. Neha Velaga (PRIN) 4-6, 6-3, 1-2, unfinished
2. #67 Annabelle Xu (VA) def. Leena Bennetto (PRIN) 6-2, 6-1
3. Natasha Subhash (VA) vs. Maia Sung (PRIN) 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
4. #91 Sara Ziodato (VA) def. Madeline Jessup (PRIN) 7-5, 6-4
5. #125 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) vs. Alice Ferlito (PRIN) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
6. Melodie Collard (VA) def. Eva Elbaz (PRIN) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. #8 Melodie Collard/Elaine Chervinsky (VA) def. Leena Bennetto/Eva Elbaz (PRIN) 6-0
2. #47 Natasha Subhash/Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. Maia Sung/Isabella Chhiv (PRIN) 6-1
3. #88 Meggie Navarro/Sara Ziodato (VA) vs. Neha Velaga/Alice Ferlito (PRIN) 3-4, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,2,4)
T-2:05 A-209