Virginia Plays Stanford in NCAA Quarterfinals
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May 16, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. – No. 3 seed Virginia (24-5) will meet No. 11 seed Stanford (19-2) on Saturday (May 17) in its first quarterfinal appearance at the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship in Athens, Ga. First serve at Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus is set for 12 p.m. Live scoring and video will be available on VirginiaSports.com.
The Cavaliers, who are 0-1 all-time against Stanford, advanced to the quarterfinals with an impressive 4-1 win over 14th-seeded Baylor in the round of 16 on Thursday (May 15). Virginia captured the doubles point and Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.), Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) earned singles wins against the Bears. The Cavaliers have also defeated Youngstown State (4-0) and Kentucky (4-1) during their school-best sixth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance.
The Cavaliers are 15-14 all-time at the NCAA Championship, including a 13-7 mark under ninth-year head coach Mark Guilbeau. The three-time ITA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year has a 148-86 mark in nine seasons at Virginia and 302-175 record in 18 seasons overall.
All-ACC performers Elbaba, Collins, Nauta and Rachel Pierson (Princeton, N.J.) lead the Cavaliers into Saturday’s action. No. 4 Elbaba is 19-3 at No. 1 singles and ACC Championship Most Valuable Player and 32nd-ranked Collins is 18-5 at Nos. 1 and 2. No. 53 Nauta, who clinched Virginia’s first ACC Championship title over Duke, is 23-2 at Nos. 2-4 and No. 76 Pierson is 17-10 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 Li Xi (Kunming, China) will to compete at No. 1 doubles, while the No. 7 Elbaba and Pierson tandem will battle at No. 2. Collins and Epstein are set at No. 3 doubles. Nauta and Xi are 8-2 in dual action, while Elbaba and Pierson are 12-9. Collins and Epstein have flourished with a 10-1 mark on court three.
The Virginia-Stanford winner will meet the Alabama-North Carolina winner in the NCAA semifinals on Monday, May 19 at 1 p.m.