Virginia Tied for 11th in ITA Team Rankings

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Jan. 4, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia is tied for 11th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Women’s Team Rankings.

The Cavaliers are one of four ACC teams ranked in the top 15. Virginia returns four starters from last year’s team that won a school-record 20 matches and advanced to the NCAA round of 16 for the second consecutive season.

Virginia freshman Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) is ranked No. 4 in the first ITA singles rankings of 2013. Elbaba’s No. 4 ranking surpasses the No. 11 ranking by Alison Cohen in 1995 as the highest singles ranking in UVa women’s tennis history. Elbaba won 10 matches at the 2012 ITA All-American and finished runner-up at the fall event.

The Cavaliers are the lone team to have a pair of doubles tandems ranked in the top 10. Senior Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) and freshman Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.) are ranked No. 5, while junior Li Xi (Kunming, China) and freshman Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) are ranked No. 10. Vierra and Epstein’s No. 5 ranking is also a program high, surpassing the No. 8 preseason ranking by Emily Fraser (Rye, N.Y.) and senior Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton, Fla.) in 2011-12.

Virginia is one of five schools to have three or more singles players ranked in the top 50 as Nauta and Xi joined Elbaba in the rankings. Nauta is ranked No. 43 and Xi is ranked No. 44.

The Cavaliers open the 2013 season Jan. 19-21 by hosting the UVa Winter Invitational at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.