March 24, 2017

DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 29 Virginia women’s tennis team (7-6, 5-1 ACC) dropped its first ACC match of the season, falling by a score of 6-1 at No. 17 Duke (10-3, 3-0 ACC) at the Ambler Tennis Stadium on Friday (March 24) afternoon.

The Cavaliers got on the scoreboard as No. 44 Rosie Johanson (Abbotsford, British Columbia) posted a singles win on court one.

The Blue Devils grabbed the doubles point to start the day, winning on courts one and three as the home team took the early lead in the match. The No. 26 pairing of Meible Chi and Kaitlyn McCarthy defeated the Cavalier duo of Johanson and Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) by a score of 6-3 on court one. The Virginia team of Camille Favero (Sacramento, Calif.) and Brooke Sutherland (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) also fell 6-3 on court three.

The duo of Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.V.) and Teodora Radosavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) led 5-3 on court two when the doubles point was clinched by Duke.

After securing the doubles point, Duke then got wins on courts six, two, five and four, in that order, to lock up the win.

Johanson got the point for the Cavaliers with her singles win on court one, defeating No. 49 Samantha Harris in a super tiebreak after splitting the first two sets. Johanson battled back from a large deficit in the super tiebreak, fighting back from seven points down to claim the 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (8) win.

Duke closed out the day, winning the final match on court three in a third-set super tiebreak.

Virginia will return to action on Sunday, continuing ACC play on the road at No. 4 North Carolina. The Cavaliers and Tar Heels will play at 1 p.m.

No. 17 Duke 6, No. 29 Virginia 1
Singles

No. 44 Rosie Johanson def. No. 49 Samantha Harris, 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (8)
No. 25 Meible Chi def. No. 94 Cassie Mercer, 6-1, 6-3
No. 52 Chalena Scholl def. Meghan Kelley, 6-0, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (6)
No. 76 Kaitlin McCarthy def. Teodora Radosavljevic, 6-4, 6-2
Alyssa Smith def. Camille Favero, 6-4, 6-1
Rebecca Smaller def. Brooke Sutherland, 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 2 ,5, 4, 1, 3

Doubles
No. 26 Chi/McCarthy def. Johanson/Kelley, 6-3
Mercer/Radosavljevic vs. Scholl/Smith, 5-3 (unfinished)
Harris/Smaller def. Favero/Sutherland, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3