Virginia Opens NCAA Regional Play With VCU Friday Morning

May 10, 2018

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 23 Virginia (15-8) women’s tennis team opens NCAA Tournament play on Friday morning at 11 a.m., taking on VCU (17-5) at the Carolina Tennis Complex at South Carolina.

The second match of the day will feature the host South Carolina, the No. 10 overall seed in the tournament, against Quinnipiac. The winners of the two opening matches will advance to face each other at 2 p.m. on Saturday (May 12) for the right to play at the NCAA Team Championships at Wake Forest (May 18-22).

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans can keep up with all of the action through live stats and a video stream linked at VirginiaSports.com or by following the program’s official Twitter account @UVAWomensTennis.

TICKETS AVAILABLE
Tickets for each round of the tournament will be $5 general admission and $3 for students with a valid student ID. Children two and under will be admitted at no charge. Tickets will be available at the main entrance of the Carolina Tennis Center on the day of the event.

PARKING AT SOUTH CAROLINA
Fan parking is available in the Heyward Street Garage located at 1300 Heyward Street. Parking is free in that location and does have handicap parking available. There is additional overflow parking located along the surrounding streets. Parking is first-come, first-serve in both areas.

VIRGINIA IN THE RANKINGS
The Cavaliers are in the top 25 of the team rankings for the 11th week this season. Virginia is ranked No. 23 in the latest Oracle/ITA Women’s Tennis rankings.

Virginia features two doubles teams in the national rankings as the pairing of Rosie Johanson (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) is ranked No. 16 in the ITA Women’s Doubles rankings. The pairing of Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.Va.) is ranked No. 54 this week.

In singles, the Cavaliers also have one player make an appearance with Johanson ranked No. 32 nationally. It’s a career-high ranking for Johanson in singles.

A LOOK AT THE CAVALIERS
The Cavaliers enter the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 15-8 under first-year head coach Sara O’Leary and finished sixth in the ACC with a record of 9-5 in conference play. The nine wins marks the third most in a single season in program history, trying the mark set by the 2013 and 2016 teams. Only two other seasons saw the Cavaliers post more ACC wins in a season – the 2014 season (12) and 2015 season (11) which both resulted in ACC titles for Virginia.

ALL-ACC HOOS
The Cavaliers had two players named to All-ACC honors this season as Johanson was named a first-team selection and Kelley was named a third-team honoree. Johanson, who plays at the top spot of the singles lineup, holds a 22-12 record this season in addition to her national singles ranking. It’s the second straight season for her to be an All-ACC selection. Kelley holds a 22-8 record on the year that included an 11-3 mark in conference play. It is her first ACC honor.

NCAA SINGLES AND DOUBLES BERTHS
Johanson and Kelley will also continue play in the NCAA Tournament once the team portion of the competition is completed. Johanson earned a berth to the NCAA Singles Championship and will pair with Kelley in the NCAA Doubles Championship. As a duo, Johanson and Kelley hold a 26-9 record, won the ITA Atlantic Regional and advanced to the quarterfinals at the ITA National Fall Championship.

It Is the second time for Kelley to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championships as she advanced to the round of 16 with doubles partner Danielle Collins in 2016. Johanson will be making her first NCAA Singles Championship appearance this season. She is the seventh player in program history to earn a berth in the singles and doubles championship in the same season.

UVA AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Virginia is making the program’s 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since the 2016 season. That year, the Cavaliers advanced to the Elite Eight with a win over No. 3 seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16. It was the second Elite Eight appearance in program history for Virginia and capped a run of 10 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Cavaliers have advanced to nine of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments and are 19-17 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.