Virginia Rolls to First ACC Championship Final
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April 26, 2014
CARY, N.C. – No. 3 seed Virginia advanced to its first ACC Women’s Tennis Championship final after blanking No. 2 seed Miami 4-0 in the semifinals Saturday (April 26) at Cary Tennis Park.
Virginia (20-5) will aim for its first ACC Championship title on Sunday (April 27) against No. 5 seed Duke (24-3). Miami falls to 19-5.
“It’s a good day for sure, especially coming off a late night,” Virginia head coach Mark Guilbeausaid. “I’m really, really proud and you can see how happy the girls are. We knew we would be in pretty good shape if we battled hard. That was one of the best matches that I’ve seen this team play.”
For the second straight match, Virginia claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 3 and 2. Sophomores Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.) and Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) beat Lina Lileikite and Stephanie Wagner 8-3 on court three. The Cavaliers clinched the point when No. 13 Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and Rachel Pierson (Princeton, N.J.) defeated No. 46 Melissa Bolivar and Kelsey Laurente 8-6 on court two. Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and Li Xi (Kunming, China) led No. 11 Clementina Riobueno and Monique Albuquerque 4-3 on court one when the point was clinched.
The Cavaliers dominated singles play as No. 36 Collins beat No. 61 Laurente 6-0, 6-2 on court two and No. 69 Pierson beat Riobueno 6-3, 6-0 on court four. No. 62 Nauta clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-1 decision over No. 90 Lileikite on court three.
Virginia also held commanding leads at Nos. 1 and 5 singles when the victory was clinched. No. 4 Elbaba led No. 30 Wagner 6-3, 3-2 on court one and Epstein led Bolivar 6-3, 5-2 on court five.
The Cavaliers defeated then-No. 1 Duke 5-2 earlier this season for their second win against a top-ranked opponent in school history.
Virginia will make its first appearance in the ACC Championship final when the three-day, single-elimination format with no playback was established in 1990. The Cavaliers have finished second in the ACC Championship in 1978 and 1989.
First serve for the Virginia-Duke final is set for 11 a.m. Live scoring for the championship final will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
#7 Virginia 4, #15 Miami 0
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Cary Tennis Park
Doubles
1. Nauta/Xi (UVa) vs. #11 Riobueno/Albuquerque (UM) 4-3, DNF
2. #13 Elbaba/Pierson def. #46 Bolivar/Laurente (UM) 8-6
3. Collins/Epstein (UVa) def. Lileikite/Wagner (UM) 8-3
Order of Finish: 3,2*
Singles
1. #4 Julia Elbaba (UVa) vs. #30 Stephanie Wagner (UM) 6-2, 3-2, DNF
2. #36 Danielle Collins (UVa) def. #61 Kelsey Laurente (UM) 6-0, 6-2
3. #62 Stephanie Nauta (UVa) def. #90 Lina Lileikite (UM) 6-1, 6-1
4. #69 Rachel Pierson (UVa) def. Clementina Riobueno (UM) 6-3, 6-0
5. Maci Epstein (UVa) vs. Melissa Bolivar (UM) 6-3, 5-2, DNF
6. Monique Albuquerque (UM) vs. Caryssa Peretz (UVa) 6-4, 3-0, DNF
Order of Finish: 2,4,3*