Virginia Falls to No. 2 Duke in ACC Semifinals

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CARY, N.C. – The No. 15 Virginia women’s tennis team had its run at the 2012 ACC Tournament come to an end with a 4-0 loss to No. 2 Duke in a semifinal match Saturday at the Cary Tennis Park. The fifth-seeded Cavaliers, playing in their first ACC semifinal in nine years, fell to 18-7 with the loss. The Blue Devils improved to 24-2 as they advanced to Sunday’s championship match.

The Blue Devils opened the match by winning the doubles point. Beatrice Capra and Rachel Kahan posted an 8-2 win at No. 2 over Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) and Emily Fraser (Rye, N.Y.). Mary Clayton and Ester Goldfeld clinched the point for Duke as they edged Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) and Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton, Fla.) 8-6 at the No. 1 position.

In singles, Duke doubled their lead as Hanna Mar defeated Li Xi (Kunming, China) 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 4 spot. Capra, the ACC player of the year, extended Duke’s lead to 3-0 with her 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 1 over Fraser. Kahan sealed the victory with her 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 3 over Tomljanovic.

“I am very proud of this team,” said head coach Mark Guilbeau. “We went through a rough stretch with some challenges towards the end of the regular season. I was impressed with our willingness to get through it and that has only made us better. I think that adversity is going to be an incentive to work even harder as we prepare for the final phase of the season. Give Duke credit for playing a good match today. The doubles came down to a game or two and there were a lot of close sets in singles. We just ran out of time today. But I am excited that the team had a chance to see what level it takes to compete at the highest level of the postseason. I am confident that through hard work over the next three weeks, we will be playing our best tennis in the NCAA Tournament.”

The Cavaliers will await the selection of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field on May 1. The tournament will begin with first and second round matches on May 11-12.

#2 DUKE 4, #15 VIRGINIA 0

Doubles:
1. #23 Clayton/Goldfeld (Duke) def. #64 Tomljanovic/Vierra (UVa) 8-6
2. #27 Capra/Kahan (Duke) def. #13 Hardenbergh/Fraser (UVa) 8-2
3. Fuccillo/Xi (UVa) led Mar/Mulholland (Duke) 7-6 DNF

Singles:
1. #2 Beatrice Capra (Duke) def. #21 Emily Fraser (UVa) 6-2, 6-1
2. #111 Ester Goldfeld (Duke) led #38 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) 7-6(3), 2-3 DNF
3. #92 Rachel Kahan (Duke) def. #117 Hana Tomljanovic (UVa) 6-2, 6-3
4. #49 Hanna Mar (Duke) def. #99 Li Xi (UVa) 6-3, 6-4
5. Erin Vierra (UVa) led #74 Mary Clayton (Duke) 6-4, 4-4 DNF
6. Caryssa Peretz (UVa) vs. #88 Monica Turewicz (Duke) 6-4, 3-6, 0-0 DNF

Order of Finish:
Doubles: 2,1
Singles: 4,1,3