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2014 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship
Schedule May 15-20 – Team
May 21-26 – Singles & Doubles
Location Athens, Ga. | Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Tournament Info Championship Homepage | NCAA Bracket | NCAA Women’s Tennis Homepage | ITA Atlantic Region Awards
Additional Information Twitter | Virginia Notes

May 15, 2014

CHARLOTTESVILLE – No. 3 seed Virginia (23-5) battles No. 14 seed Baylor (26-6) in the round of 16 on Thursday (May 15) at the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship in Athens, Ga. The match has been moved indoors due to rain and first serve at the Hopkins Indoor Courts at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex is set for 2:15 p.m. Live scoring and video will be available on VirginiaSports.com.

The Cavaliers advanced to the round of 16 with wins against Youngstown State (4-0) and Kentucky (4-1) last weekend in Charlottesville. Virginia, which is making its fourth consecutive NCAA round of 16 appearance, has posted a school-best 23 wins this season en route to its first ACC Championship title this season.

The Cavaliers are 14-14 all-time at the NCAA Championship, including a 12-7 mark under ninth-year head coach Mark Guilbeau. The three-time ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year has a 147-86 mark in nine seasons at Virginia and 301-175 record in 18 seasons overall.

All-ACC performers Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and Rachel Pierson (Princeton, N.J.) lead the Cavaliers into Thursday’s action. No. 4 Elbaba is 18-3 at No. 1 singles and ACC Championship Most Valuable Player and 32nd-ranked Collins is 17-5 at Nos. 1 and 2. No. 53 Nauta, who clinched Virginia’s ACC Championship title over Duke, is 22-2 at Nos. 2-4 and No. 76 Pierson is 17-9 at Nos. 2-4. Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.) is 17-8 Nos. 4-6, while Caryssa Peretz (Cherry Hill, N.J.) is 8-2 at Nos. 5 and 6.

Nauta and Xi are expected to compete at No. 1 doubles, while the No. 7 Elbaba and Pierson tandem will battle at No. 2. Collins and Epstein, who clinched all three doubles points for UVa at the ACC championship, are set at No. 3 doubles. Nauta and Xi are 7-2 in dual action, while Elbaba and Pierson are 12-9. Collins and Epstein have flourished with a 9-1 mark on court three.

Virginia, which is 1-3 all-time against Baylor, meets the Bears for the first time since a 4-3 loss last season. The Cavaliers upset then-No. 3 Baylor during the 2010-11 season.

The Virginia-Baylor winner will meet the Stanford-Cal winner in the NCAA quarterfinals on Saturday, May 17 at 12 p.m.

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