Cavaliers Lose 4-3 Heartbreaker to Florida State in ACC Semifinals
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April 27, 2013
CARY, N.C. – No. 7 seed Florida State edged No. 3 seed Virginia, 4-3, in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Tennis Championship Saturday (April 27) at Cary (N.C.) Tennis Park.
Florida State (16-8) rallied from a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Cavaliers (17-9) and advance to tomorrow’s championship match against No. 4 seed Miami, who upset No. 1 seed North Carolina earlier today.
The Cavaliers will learn their NCAA opponent and site during the NCAA.com Selection Show on Tuesday, April 30 at 5:30 p.m.
“I love the fight we showed this weekend,” Virginia head coach Mark Guilbeau said. “Give Florida State credit for not letting us win the match. I know we got better today and I’m really proud of our team. We’ll leave here with a lot of spirit and we’re looking forward to competing in the NCAA Tournament in a couple of weeks.”
Virginia won the doubles point, but Florida State earned four singles victories from Mia Vriens, Amy Sargeant (clinching win), Kerrie Cartwright and Kristina Schleich to earn the win.
Freshmen Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) recorded singles wins for the Cavaliers.
Florida State won the first doubles match as Vriens and Sargeant beat senior Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Elbaba, 8-1, at No. 2. Virginia then used wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to clinch the point. Senior co-captain Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) and Nauta defeated Francesca Segarelli and Daneika Borthwick, 8-3, at No. 1 and junior Li Xi (Kunming, China) and senior Maria Fuccillo (Rockville, Md.) posted an 8-6 win over Cartwright and Schleich at No. 3.
Florida State evened the match at 1-1 with Schleich’s 6-0, 6-3 win over junior Caryssa Peretz (Cherry Hill, N.J.) at No. 6.
Virginia gained a 3-1 lead when Elbaba and Nauta posted wins moments apart at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Elbaba beat Borthwick 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1, while Nauta ousted Segarelli 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2.
FSU narrowed the gap to 3-2 with a 7-6(5), 6-4 win from Vriens over Tomljanovic at No. 3.
Cartwright tied the match at 3-3 with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Vierra at No. 5.
Sargeant clinched the win with a 7-6(2), 4-6, 7-5 win over Xi at No. 4 singles. Sargeant rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to send the Seminoles to the championship match.
Notes: Virginia will compete in its school-record fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament on May 10-12.