Cavaliers Return To Road With Wednesday Match At Michigan
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The No. 25 Virginia women’s tennis team (10-4) returns to the road this week, traveling to face No. 22 Michigan (5-3) in a 2 p.m. match on Wednesday (March 13) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans can keep up with the action through a live stream of the courts and live stats that will be linked at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also get updates by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWomensTennis).
CAVALIERS IN THE INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
Virginia is represented in the individual rankings with senior Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) coming in at No. 33 in singles. She and freshman Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) are the No. 15 doubles tandem in the most recent individual rankings released last week. Kelley also comes in as part of the No. 56 pairing with junior Hunter Bleser (New Braunfels, Texas). Also in the doubles rankings is the tandem of junior Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and freshman Amber O’Dell (New Milford, N.J.) at No. 58 in the polls.
A LOOK AT MICHIGAN
The Wolverines are 5-3 on the season entering the midweek contest with all three losses coming at the hands of ACC teams. Michigan dropped matches with then No. 24 Syracuse, then No. 2 North Carolina and No. 3 Duke. In all, six of the eight matches played by the Wolverines have come against teams ranked in the top 25. In singles action, Michigan has four players ranked in the Oracle/ITA Women’s Singles rankings with fourth-ranked Kate Fahey leading the way. Three of the four are ranked in the top 30.
THE SERIES WITH MICHIGAN
The Cavaliers and Wolverines have faced each other six times in the history of the two programs with Virginia holding a 4-2 lead in the series. The first meeting, a win for Virginia, came on the road in the 1980 spring season. The teams wouldn’t play each other again until the 2013 spring season. The squads have played each other five of the last six seasons, with Virginia leading 3-2 in those five meetings. The Cavaliers are 1-1 in matches played at Michigan in that time and 2-1 at Michigan all-time.
LAST TIME OUT VS. THE WOLVERINES
Virginia and Michigan faced each other in Charlottesville last season with the then unranked Cavaliers taking a 4-2 win over then No. 14 Michigan. Michigan won the doubles point before the Cavaliers would take four singles matches to secure the victory. Included in the singles wins was a victory by Gullickson over the defending 2017 NCAA singles champion, Brienne Minor, before Cassie Mercer would clinch the match with a win at number two singles. In all, four current members of the UVA squad played against the Wolverines last season.
UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia will continue to play on the road next week, returning to ACC competition with a pair of dual matches. The Cavaliers will head north to take on Pittsburgh in the weekend’s first match, facing the Panthers at 3 p.m. on Friday before heading to face No. 3 Duke at noon on Sunday.