No. 18 Virginia Drops 5-2 Contest With No. 24 Florida State
March 31, 2018
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Tight matches up and down the lineup were the norm on Saturday, but things fell the way of the Seminoles as No. 18 Virginia (12-5, 6-3 ACC) fell to No. 24 Florida State (12-7, 4-4 ACC) by a score of 5-2 at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
Nine of the 13 sets played in singles were decided by two games or in a tiebreak. Virginia got singles wins from junior Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) and sophomore Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.).
It was the second loss of the season to Florida State, as Virginia and the Seminoles met in the ITA Kickoff Weekend back in February. The Seminoles won that meeting 4-1 at Vanderbilt.
Florida State got on the board first on Saturday, securing the doubles points with wins on courts two and three. The Seminoles won 6-4 on court three before locking up the point with a 6-4 win on court two in doubles. The top court in doubles went unfinished, as the No. 12 pair of Rosie Johanson (Abbotsford, British Columbia) and Kelley were in a 5-5 deadlock with the No. 58 duo of Ariana Rahmanparast and Carla Touly from FSU when the match was abandoned.
In singles play, the Seminoles pushed out to the win, taking tight wins on courts two, five and six. Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.Va.) dropped a 6-4, 7-5 match to No. 105 Petra Hule on court two, before Teodora Radosavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) lost 7-5, 6-3 on court five to Ariana Rahmanparast and Hunter Bleser fell 7-5, 6-4 on court six to Andrea Garcia.
Kelley then got the Cavaliers on the board with her 6-4, 6-2 win over Nandini Das on court three.
On court one in singles, a tight battle between two nationally-ranked players went the way of the Seminoles as Johanson, who is ranked No. 74 in singles, fell to No. 30 Touly by a score of 7-5, 7-6 (5).
Gullickson then closed out the match, taking the win on court four from Julia Mikulski by a score of 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
Virginia will return to action next weekend, traveling to face Virginia Tech on Saturday (April 7) in the Commonwealth Clash match. First serve on Saturday is set for 1 p.m. It kicks off a stretch of three consecutive road matches for the Cavaliers.
No. 24 Florida State 5, No. 18 Virginia 2
Singles
1. No. 30 Carla Touly (FSU) def. No. 74 Rosie Johanson, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
2. No. 105 Petra Hule (FSU) def. Cassie Mercer, 6-4, 7-5
3. Meghan Kelley def. Nandini Das (FSU), 6-4, 6-2
4. Chloe Gullickson def. Julia Mikulski (FSU), 6-3, 1-6, 7-5
5. Ariana Rahmanparast (FSU) def. Teodora Radosavljevic 7-5, 6-3
6. Andrea Garcia (FSU) def. Hunter Bleser, 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 6, 3, 1, 4
Doubles
1. No. 12 Johanson/Kelley vs. No. 58 Rahmanparast/Touly (FSU) 5-5 (unfinished)
2. Garcia Mikulski (FSU) def. Gullickson/Mercer, 6-4
3. Castaneda/Hule (FSU) def. Radosavljevic/Susi, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2