Virginia Edges Yale, 4-3
Story Links
March 16, 2013
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Virginia women’s tennis team edged No. 34 Yale, 4-3, in the semifinals of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Saturday at Lagoon Park Tennis Center.
The Cavaliers (5-6) will play No. 50 Tulane in the championship on Sunday (March 17). Yale falls to 9-2.
Virginia claimed the doubles point and freshman Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas), junior Caryssa Peretz (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and senior Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) posted singles wins.
Vierra and Nauta defeated Elizabeth Epstein and Annie Sullivan 8-3 at No. 1 doubles. After Yale posted an 8-6 win at No. 2, freshman Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and Li Xi (Kunming, China) clinched the point for the third consecutive match by defeating Hanna Yu and Courtney Amos 9-8 at No. 3.
Nauta gave Virginia a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Madeleine Hamilton at No. 1 singles. Sullivan put Yale on the scoreboard with a 6-2, 6-2 win over senior Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton, Fla.) at No. 3, but Peretz followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Amos at No. 6.
Yale rallied to tie the score at 3-3 as No. 99 Epstein beat No. 13 Elbaba 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2 and Hanna Yu beat Xi 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 at No. 4.
Vierra then clinched Virginia’s fifth win with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Li at No. 5.
First serve for tomorrow’s Virginia-Tulane championship match is set for 1 p.m. ET.