April 16, 2017

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It went down to wire with the home team winning a tiebreak on court five to clinch the match as No. 40 Virginia (9-11, 6-6 ACC) fell in a 4-3 decision at Louisville (14-10, 3-9 ACC) on Sunday (April 16) at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

Louisville used the doubles point and three singles wins to secure the victory over Virginia.

The Cavaliers got singles wins from Rosie Johanson (Abbotsford, British Columbia), Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.V.) and Hunter Bleser (New Braunfels, Texas) on the way to the 4-3 decision.

The Cardinals took the doubles point for the 1-0 lead early in the match, taking 6-3 victories on courts one and two. The Louisville pairing of Humberg and Pahz defeated Virginia’s Johanson and Mercer on court one, while the Cardinals tandem of Paul and Stokes downed the Cavaliers’ Bleser and Camille Favero (Sacramento, Calif.) on court two.

Johanson wasted no time tying the overall match score with her straight-set victory on court one. The No. 48 ranked player in the ITA singles rankings, Johanson powered to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Aleksandra to get the first point for the Cavaliers.

The Cardinals then moved out to a 3-1 lead in the match, picking up straight-set wins on courts three and four. Junior Teodora Radosavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) fell to Abbie Paz 6-2, 6-4, before Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) fell 6-4, 6-2 to Mariana Humberg.

Virginia cut the lead to one point as Mercer, the No. 116 player in the ITA singles rankings, rallied with a powerful third set to win 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 over Elle Stokes.

Courts five and six finished almost simultaneously with Favero falling 6-3, 7-6 to Tiffany Huber on court five as Louisville clinched the match moments before Bleser finished off Olivia Boesing 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 on court six for the final score.

The Cavaliers return to action next weekend, closing out the regular-season and ACC play at home with No. 47 Florida State and No. 45 Miami. Virginia will face the Seminoles at 3:30 p.m. on Friday (April 21) before closing things out with the Hurricanes at 11 a.m. on Sunday (April 23). Both matches are free to the public and scheduled to be played at the Snyder Tennis Center.

Louisville 4, No. 40 Virginia 3
Singles
No. 48 Rosie Johanson (UVA) def. Aleksandra Mally, 6-0, 6-2
No. 116 Cassie Mercer (UVA) def. Elle Stokes, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
Mariana Humberg def. Meghan Kelley (UVA), 6-4, 6-2
Abbie Pahz def. Teodora Radosavljevic (UVA), 6-2, 6-4
Tiffany Huber def. Camille Favero (UVA), 6-3, 7-6
Hunter Bleser (UVA) def. Olivia Boesing, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 3, 2, 5, 6

Doubles
Humberg/Pahz def. Johanson/Mercer (UVA), 6-3
Paul/Stokes def. Bleser/Favero (UVA), 6-3
Boesing/Mally led Kelley/Radosavljevic (UVA), 4-3 (unfinished)
Order of Finish: 1, 2