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LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 20 Virginia women’s tennis team (2-0) got the weekend off to a strong start on Friday (Jan. 24), taking a 4-1 victory over No. 16 California (0-1) to open play at the ITA Kickoff regional hosted by Kansas. The Cavaliers will face No. 22 Tennessee (3-0) in the finals at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday (Jan. 25). 

Virginia claimed the doubles point to take the early lead on the Bears and then picked up singles wins from junior Vivian Glozman (Bellevue, Wash.), freshman No. 30 Natasha Subhash (Fairfax, Va.) and sophomore Amber O’Dell (New Milford, N.J.) to clinch the match.

O’Dell clinched the match with her three-set battle as she took down No. 20 Valentina Ivanov on court three. Glozman and Subhash also won three-set matches with the freshman defeating No. 45 Julia Rosenqvist, while Glozman defeated Katerina Stloukalova. All three players completed rallies after dropping their first sets.

After Cal took court three in doubles, the Cavaliers grabbed victories on courts one and two to secure the doubles point and take the 1-0 lead in the overall match score. On court two, Virginia’s pairing of Subhash and Munera broke serve to go up 5-4 before closing things out over the Bears’ duo of Valentina Ivanov and Julia Rosenqvist. On court one, Virginia’s tandem of Gullickson and O’Dell broke to take a 5-3 lead before Cal would break back to make it 5-4. The Cavaliers then broke serve again to clinch the doubles point with the 6-4 victory against the No. 13 duo of Anna Bright and Haley Giavara. 

Cal tied the match with a straight-set victory on court two as the 21st-ranked Giavara won 6-2, 6-4 over No. 35 Rosie Johanson (Vancouver, British Columbia). 

Glozman then pushed the Cavaliers back in front as she cruised in her third set to take a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Stloukalova. The Cavaliers would not trail in the match as Subhash and O’Dell completed their comebacks to lock up the victory.

Subhash battled back from dropping her first set, taking the 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over the nationally-ranked Rosenqvist on court one before O’Dell would grind out her victory on court three. O’Dell’s clinching victory was a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Stloukalova on court three.

No. 20 Virginia 4, No. 16 California 1
Singles
1.
 No. 30 Natasha Subhash def. No. 45 Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) – 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
2. No. 21 Haley Giavara (Cal) def. No. 35 Rosie Johanson – 6-2, 6-4 
3. Amber O’Dell def. No. 20 Valentina Ivanov (Cal) – 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. No. 78 Sofia Munera vs. No. 100 Anna Bright (Cal) – 3-6, 7-6 (2), (unfinished)
5. Vivian Glozman def. Katerina Stloukalova (Cal) – 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
6. Chloe Gullickson vs. Erin Richardson (Cal) – 3-6, 6-3, 2-3 (unfinished)
Order of Finish: 2, 5, 1, 3
 
Doubles
1.
 Gullickson/O’Dell def. No. 13 Anna Bright/Haley Giavara (Cal) – 6-4
2. Munera/Subhash def. Valentina Ivanov/Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) – 6-4
3. Jasie Dunk/Katerina Stloukalova (Cal) def. Glozman/Johanson – 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1