Virginia Women's Tennis Edged 4-3 by No. 5 Duke
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The eighth-ranked Virginia women’s tennis team had its six-match win streak snapped Friday, falling 4-3 to No. 5 Duke at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Blue Devils (14-2, 3-0 ACC) rallied in singles to win four matches and handed the Cavaliers (12-3, 3-1 ACC) their first conference loss of the season.
Virginia made changes to its doubles lineup and the new lineup made an immediate impact as the Cavaliers swept all three matches to take a 1-0 lead. Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton. Fla.) and Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) moved up to the No. 1 spot and topped Beatrice Capra and Rachel Kahan 8-3. Li Xi (Kunming, China) teamed with Caryssa Peretz (Cherry Hill, N.J.) at No. 3 and the duo rallied from down a break for most of the match to win the final four games for an 8-6 win over Hanna Mar and Annie Mulholland. Emily Fraser (Rye, N.Y.) and Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) completed the sweep with an 8-6 win at No. 2 over Mary Clayton and Ester Goldfeld.
In singles, the Blue Devils drew even as Capra topped Fraser 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 1 position. Clayton gave Duke the lead as she downed Vierra 6-2, 6-3 at No. 5 singles. At No. 3, Xi had just won the first set against Kahan when she suffered an injury that hampered her until she retired early in the third set, extending the Duke lead to 3-1. Mar clinched the victory for the Blue Devils with her 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 4 over Tomljanovic. Virginia won the final two matches in three sets. Hardenbergh topped Goldfeld 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 at No. 2 and Peretz downed Monica Turewicz 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-4 at No. 6.
“I am very, very proud of our team,” said head coach Mark Guilbeau. “It’s a tough loss, especially due to the fact that this team came out and performed better than Duke today for most of the match. The doubles was a great start. Sometimes you need a break or two to go your way to put away a match like this. Instead, the opposite happened. Chili was on her way to a victory before suffering the bad ankle sprain in the 2nd set. Right now all that matters is the hope that she is ok and can recover quickly, and that this team can stay mentally and emotionally tough and know that they performed extremely well today. A lot goes into getting it ‘right’ on match day. Again, I am so proud of today’s effort and even more proud of the incredible amount of work and maturity that this team put in during a challenging week to prepare. Great things are ahead for this group as we continue to work together, remain excited and keep improving.”
Virginia concludes its five-match homestand on Sunday as it hosts No. 11 North Carolina.
#5 DUKE 4, #8 VIRGINIA 3
Doubles:
1. Vierra/Tomljanovic (UVa) def. #19 Capra/Kahan (Duke) 8-3
2. Fraser/Hardenbergh (UVa) def. #31 Clayton/Goldfeld (Duke) 8-6
3. Xi/Peretz (UVa) def. Mar/Mulholland (Duke) 8-6
Singles:
1. #2 Beatrice Capra (Duke) def. #15 Emily Fraser (UVa) 6-2, 6-0
2. #42 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) def. #117 Ester Goldfeld (Duke) 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
3. #102 Rachel Kahan (Duke) def. #90 Li Xi (UVa) 4-6, 6-0, 2-0 ret.
4. #48 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. Hana Tomljanovic (UVa) 6-2, 7-5
5. #71 Mary Clayton (Duke) def. Erin Vierra (UVa) 6-2, 6-3
6. Caryssa Peretz (UVa) def. #68 Monica Turewicz (Duke) 7-6(7), 1-6, 6-4
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 1,3,2
Singles: 1,5,3,4,2,6