April 26, 2018

CARY, N.C. – The sixth-seeded Virginia (15-8) women’s tennis team saw its stay at the ACC Championships come to an end on Thursday, falling in a second-round match to No. 11 seed Wake Forest (19-12) by a score of 4-2 at the Cary Tennis Park.

The Cavaliers will now wait for the announcement of NCAA Tournament selections on Tuesday afternoon to find out where Virginia will be continuing its season.

Playing without the No. 35 ranked singles player in the country, Rosie Johanson (Vancouver, British Columbia), the Cavaliers fought down to the wire with the Demon Deacons in a rematch of Sunday’s regular season finale. Virginia won that match 5-2 this past Sunday at home.

“Congratulations to Wake Forest,” said Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary. “I felt like they competed very well today. I’m proud of the effort and resilience our team showed after losing the doubles point. We faced some adversity today having to play some new doubles pairs and almost all new matchups from Sunday, but the ladies rose to the challenge and gave it their best effort. It’s important that we learn from this match and use the next two weeks to get better, get healthy and prepare for the NCAA Tournament.”

As in the first meeting, the Demon Deacons took the doubles point for the early lead in the overall match score. Wake Forest won on courts two and three, while the Virginia tandem of Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.Va.) upset the No. 16 ranked doubles team of Emma Davis and Chandler Carter on court one, taking a 6-4 victory over the Wake Forest pairing.

In singles play, the Hoos were on the board quickly as Erica Susi (Vero Beach, Fla.) picked up a straight-set victory over Courtney Meredith. The 6-1, 6-1 victory pulled Virginia into a tie in the overall match score.

Wake Forest then pushed back into the lead with a win on court one as Emma Davis, the No. 25 ranked singles player in the country, defeated Virginia’s Mercer.

Virginia again answered with the win by Teodora Radosavljevic (Belgrade, Serbia) on court four, as the Cavalier senior defeated Anna Ulyashchenko 6-4, 6-3 to tie the match for the second time on the afternoon.

Court three went the way of the Demon Deacons as Virginia’s Gullickson dropped a hard-fought tiebreak in the first set and then fell in the second to Wake Forest’s Carter. Carter won the match 7-6 (7), 6-0 to put her team in front for good.

With court two in a tight second set after a first-set tiebreak, the Demon Deacons claimed the match with a 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 win by M.C. Meredith on court five. The final match, one which Virginia’s Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) appeared to be on the verge of sending to a third set, went unfinished.

No. 11 seed Wake Forest 4, No. 6 seed Virginia 2
Singles

1. No. 25 Emma Davis (WF) def. Cassie Mercer, 7-5, 6-4
2. Meghan Kelley vs. Eliza Omirou (WF) 6-7, 6-5 (unfinished)
3. Chandler Carter (WF) def. Chloe Gullickson, 7-6 (7), 6-0
4. Teodora Radosavljevic def. Anna Ulyashchenko (WF), 6-4, 6-3
5. M.C. Meredith (WF) def. Hunter Bleser, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2
6. Erica Susi def. Courtney Meredith (WF), 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 4, 3, 5

Doubles:
1. Gullickson/Mercer def. No. 16 Carter/Davis (WF), 6-2
2. M.C. Meredith/Omirou (WF) def. Kelley/Radosavljevic, 6-2
3. Franco/Ulyashchenko (WF) def. Bleser/Susi, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3