Virginia Defeats Old Dominion, 4-3, To Kick Off Homestand
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The No. 27 Virginia women’s tennis team (13-5) returned home to kick off a four-match homestand on Thursday (March 28) picking up a 4-3 victory over Old Dominion (15-3) at the Snyder Tennis Center.
Virginia took the doubles point with a pair of shutout wins before grabbing the first three singles matches of the afternoon with wins from sophomore Vivian Glozman (Bellevue, Wash.), junior Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and freshman Amber O’Dell (New Milford, N.J.).
“Today was a good, hard-earned win for our team,” said Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary. “Old Dominion is a very talented team that has had a great season. I was proud of the way we came out in doubles and set the tone for the match. We were focused and very disciplined – especially on deuce points. I was proud of the adjustments our team made from our first match outdoors at Duke last weekend. We spoke a lot about the things we could have done differently when it comes to handling different conditions outdoors and for the most part, we made the correct adjustments today and it paid off.
“I also really want to thank our fans. We had really good support today, which was awesome for the team as we returned home to compete.”
Kicking things off with doubles action, the Cavaliers picked up a 6-0 win on court two from the duo of Glozman and freshman Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) before the pairing of senior Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) and junior Hunter Bleser (New Braunfels, Texas) clinched the doubles point with a 6-0 win on court three.
Glozman extended the lead after the teams moved to singles play, wasting no time in grabbing a 6-0, 6-0 win on court two in her match against Natalia Vlasova.
Gullickson, the No. 108 ranked player in singles, moved the Cavaliers to within a point of clinching the match with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court four over Oleksandra Andrieieva before O’Dell, the No. 68 player in singles, would secure the victory with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Yulia Starodubsteva on court three.
Old Dominion got on the board with a win on court five as the two remaining matches on courts one and six moved into a super tiebreak after the competitors split sets on each court.
Virginia will return to action on Sunday (March 31), jumping back into ACC play against No. 33 Georgia Tech (8-8, 5-4 ACC) in a noon match.
No. 27 Virginia 4, No. 32 Old Dominion 3
Singles
1. Holly Hutchinson (ODU) def. No. 39 Meghan Kelley – 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10)
2. Vivian Glozman def. Natalia Vlasova (ODU) – 6-0, 6-0
3. No. 68 Amber O’Dell def. Yulia Starodubsteva (ODU) – 6-0, 6-4
4. No. 108 Chloe Gullickson def. Oleksandra Andrieieva (ODU) – 6-3, 6-1
5. Brooke Pilkington (ODU) def. Sofia Munera – 6-4, 6-3
6. Alesya Yakubovich (ODU) def. Camille Favero – 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8)
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 5, 1, 6
Doubles
1. No. 70 Chloe Gullickson/Amber O’Dell vs. Holly Hutchinson/Brooke Pilkington (ODU) – 4-4 (unfinished)
2. Vivian Glozman/Sofia Munera def. Oleksandra Andrieieva/Yulia Starodubsteva (ODU) – 6-1
3. Hunter Bleser/Meghan Kelley def. Natalya Malenko/Natalia Vlasova (ODU) – 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 3