No. 13 Virginia Upsets Top-Ranked Duke 5-2

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Feb. 21, 2014

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – No. 13 Virginia upset No. 1 Duke 5-2 in ACC women’s tennis action Friday (Feb. 21) at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at The Boar’s Head Sports Club.

The Cavaliers (6-2) dropped the doubles point, but rallied for five singles wins to post their second win against a top-ranked opponent in school history.

“I’m so proud of everyone, the team, the staff and our entire program for today’s win against a very good Duke team,” Virginia head coach Mark Guilbeau said. “We really appreciated our fans coming out and supporting us.”

Posting singles wins for the victorious Cavaliers were sophomores Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.), Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), and freshman Marie Faure (Toulouse, France).

Trailing 1-0, Epstein started the rally with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Rachel Kahan at No. 5. No. 53 Collins gave Virginia a 2-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Chalena Scholl at No. 2. No. 107 Nauta increased UVa’s advantage to 3-1 with a 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 42 Hanna Mar at No. 4.

No. 20 Ester Goldfeld cut the Virginia advantage to 3-2 with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 win over No. 39 Rachel Pierson (Princeton, N.J.) at No. 3, but No. 4 Elbaba beat No. 3 Capra 7-5, 7-5 at No. 1 to clinch the win. Faure added a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over No. 115 Marianne Jodoin at No. 6.

Duke (8-1) captured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2. No. 6 Capra and Mar defeated No. 3 Elbaba and Pierson 8-6 at No. 1. Duke’s Goldfeld and Alyssa Smith clinched the point with an 8-7(4) win over Nauta and Epstein at No. 2. Duke’s Annie Mulholland and Chalena Scholl held a 6-4 lead over Collins and Faure when the point was clinched.

The Cavaliers posted their first win against a top-ranked opponent last season, defeating then-No. 1 North Carolina 4-3 in Chapel Hill.

Virginia travels to Boston College for an ACC match on Sunday, Feb. 23. First serve is set for 11 a.m. at the BC Flynn Athletics Complex.