No. 4 Seed Virginia Beats Top-Seeded and Top-Ranked North Carolina
Story Links
Box Score April 25, 2015
Box Score | Live Scoring | Championship Central | Bracket | Photo Gallery
DURHAM, N.C. – No. 4 seed Virginia knocked off No. 1 seed and top-ranked North Carolina 4-1 in ACC Women’s Tennis Championship semifinal action on Saturday (April 25) at Duke’s Sheffield Tennis Center. The match was originally scheduled outdoors at Cary Tennis Park, but was moved indoors due to inclement weather.
The defending ACC champion Cavaliers improved to 20-5 and dealt the Tar Heels (27-1) their first loss of the season. The win was also Virginia’s third against a top-ranked opponent in school history. Virginia seeks its second consecutive ACC Championship on Sunday (April 26) against No. 6 seed Georgia Tech.
Virginia continued its stellar doubles play by taking the important point and Skylar Morton (Bethesda, Md.), No. 19 Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.Va.) each recorded singles victories against North Carolina. No. 5 Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) was also closing in on a win over No. 7 Jamie Loeb when Mercer clinched the win.
“We played really well today and I want to commend the players for doing what we as coaches ask of them,” Virginia head coach Mark Guilbeau said. “We knew we would have a good chance today because the last time we played North Carolina we were a bit shorthanded and came close to beating them down here. North Carolina probably has the best doubles team in the country. Our doubles pairings are something that we looked at eight months ago and I’m so happy that the players have allowed us to do it. We are a really good team because of it.”
In doubles, North Carolina’s No. 30 Whitney Kay and Hayley Carter beat Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and Mercer 8-2, but Elbaba and Morton upset the 11th-ranked tandem of Loeb and Caroline Price 8-2 on court one. Collins and Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.) secured the doubles point for UVa with an 8-5 win over No. 53 Ashley Dai and Kate Vialle on court three.
UVa used the momentum from doubles to take four of the six first sets in singles. Morton beat No. 112 Kay 6-3, 6-2 on court four. No. 20 Price put the Tar Heels on the scoreboard with a 6-1, 6-4 win over No. 36 Nauta on court three. Collins topped No. 15 Carter 6-1, 7-5 on court two and Mercer clinched the win with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 115 Dai on court six. Elbaba led Loeb 6-2, 5-3 when the team win was clinched by Mercer.
First serve for the Virginia-Georgia Tech ACC Championship match is set for 2 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3 and live scoring is available on VirginiaSports.com.