No. 19 Virginia Opens ACC Play At No. 10 Syracuse Friday
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The No. 19 Virginia women’s tennis team (4-1) continues play on the road this weekend, traveling to face No. 10 Syracuse (4-0) in the ACC opener for both teams. First serve is set for 2 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 1) at the Drumlins Country Club.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
The match will be streamed live on the ACC Network Extra, available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 through WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Fans can also get in-game updates on the match’s live stats feed on VirginiaSports.com and on the women’s tennis official twitter page (@UVAWomensTennis).
VIRGINIA IN THE TEAM RANKINGS
The Cavaliers moved up two spots to No. 19 in the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings this week after a split weekend on the road last week. Virginia, who was No. 21 last week, participated in the ITA Kickoff Weekend as part of the regional played at Oklahoma State. Virginia dropped its match with then No. 10 Oklahoma State before rallying with a win over No. 18 Illinois in the consolation match on Saturday.
CAVALIERS IN THE INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
Virginia also has a presence in the individual rankings with senior Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) playing a role in both rankings. Kelley is the No. 32 singles player in the Oracle/ITA Women’s Singles Rankings, while pairing with freshman Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) as part of the No. 10 doubles tandem in the nation.
THE SERIES WITH SYRACUSE
Virginia and Syracuse will meet for only the 12th time on Friday, despite the series dating back to the 1983-84 season. The Cavaliers hold a 10-1 edge in the series with Virginia winning the first three matches and four of five from 1983-88. The teams met a single time in the 1992-93 season before a hiatus. The series resumed in the 2012-13 season and has been played each season since. Virginia has won seven straight in the series. The Cavaliers are 2-1 in matches played at Syracuse. This will be only the third time both teams have been ranked at the time of the meeting.
LAST TIME OUT VS. THE ORANGE
The two squads met last season in Charlottesville with the Cavaliers grabbing a 4-3 victory over the Orange in the second ACC match of the season for Virginia. In that match, the Cavaliers rallied after dropping the doubles point, winning four singles matches to take the dual victory. Kelley clinched the victory with a win on court three, rallying after dropping her first set to take a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Syracuse’s Sofya Golubovskaya. Also picking up singles wins in the match with the Orange were Cassie Mercer, Teodora Radosavljevic and Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.).
A LOOK AT SYRACUSE
The Orange jumped up 14 spots in the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings this week after a pair of neutral-site wins in the ITA Kickoff Weekend last week. Syracuse defeated No. 9 Michigan and Purdue as a part of the annual event to move up to the program’s highest-ever rankings at No. 10 this week. Two players are ranked in the singles rankings with Gabriela Knutson at No. 43 and Golubovskaya at No. 92. In doubles, Golubovskaya pairs with Sofya Treshcheva as the No. 24 tandem nationally. Knutson is the reigning ACC Player of the Week after leading the Orange to the wins over the Wolverines and Boilermakers. In addition to the wins last weekend, Syracuse has wins over Brown and Columbia. Five of the eight players on the roster competed against the Cavaliers last year in Charlottesville.
UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia will return to action on Saturday, February 16, when the Cavaliers return home for a doubleheader. The Cavaliers will kick things off against Boston College at 10 a.m. before stepping out of conference to face George Mason that afternoon at 4 p.m.