No. 10 Virginia Completes Opening Weekend At UNC Invitational

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Members of the No. 10 Virginia women’s tennis team completed the first weekend of competition for the 2021 season on Sunday (Jan. 17), closing out two days of play at the UNC Invitational.

In addition to the Cavaliers, players from No. 1 North Carolina, No. 6 Duke and No. 8 NC State competed against each other in doubles and singles throughout the weekend. Play was conducted at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center at North Carolina and the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center at NC State.

Virginia players faced off against players from top-ranked North Carolina on Saturday and eighth-ranked NC State on Sunday.

“It was a long time coming and it was great to get back out on the courts and compete as a team,” said Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary. “We challenged the ladies to play two high-level teams and I thought they took that opportunity and responded well. While we were able to identify areas for improvement, I’m encouraged by the way we competed and am excited to build off this weekend.”

Freshman Hibah Shaikh (Teaneck, N.J.) and senior Vivian Glozman highlighted the singles action on Saturday as Shaikh won her first singles match as a Cavaliers with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory over No. 53 Alle Sanford of North Carolina. Glozman also picked up the win with her 6-4, 6-2 victory over Sophia Patel.

In Saturday’s doubles action, Shaikh and partner Amber O’Dell (New Milford, N.J.) defeated the Tar Heel duo of Kacie Harvey and Anika Yarlagadda by a score of 6-1. Virginia tandem of Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) and Natasha Subhash (Fairfax, Va.) also picked up doubles wins with a 6-3 victory over the No. 15 pairing of Makenna Jones and Sanford and a 6-3 win over the No. 45 duo of Cameron Morra and Elizabeth Scotty.

Sunday’s doubles action also saw the tandem of O’Dell and Shaikh grab a 6-4 victory over the NC State duo of Lexi Keberle and Amelia Rajecki.

Munera, who is ranked No. 91 nationally in singles, also picked up a singles victory for the Cavaliers on Sunday when she defeated Rajecki of NC State by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Virginia will return to action next weekend in dual competition as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Cavaliers will compete in a four-team regional hosted by No. 13 Ohio State. Virginia will face Tennessee in its opening match on Saturday (Jan. 23) and face either the Buckeyes or Washington on Sunday.

At J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center (Raleigh, N.C.) – Sunday
Doubles Rotation 1
No. 2 Anna Rogers/Alanna Smith (NCSU) def. Sofia Munera/Natasha Subhash – 6-1
No. 16 Jaeda Daniel/Adriana Reami (NCSU) def. No. 31 Vivian Glozman/Rosie Johanson – 6-3
Amber O’Dell/Hibah Shaikh def. Lexi Keberle/Amelia Rajecki (NCSU) – 6-4

Doubles Rotation 2
No. 2 Anna Rogers/Alana Smith (NCSU) def. No. 31 Vivian Glozman/Rosie Johanson – 6-4
No. 16 Jaeda Daniel/Adriana Reami (NCSU) def. Sofia Munera/Natasha Subhash – 6-2
Lana Mavor/Amelia Rajecki (NCSU) def. Amber O’Dell/Hibah Shaikh – 6-4

Singles
No. 35 Anna Rogers (NCSU) def. Hibah Shaikh – 7-5, 6-1
No. 23 Alana Smith (NCSU) def. No. 47 Rosie Johanson – 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
No 38 Adriana Reami (NCSU) def. Vivian Glozman –  6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Lexi Keberle (NCSU) def. No. 104 Amber O’Dell – 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 91 Sofia Munera def. Amelia Rajecki (NCSU) – 6-2, 7-6 (5)

At Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center (Chapel Hill, N.C.) – Saturday
Doubles Rotation 1
No. 45 Cameron Morra/Elizabeth Scotty (UNC) def. Rosie Johanson/Vivian Glozman 6-2
Natasha Subhash/Sofia Munera def. No. 15 Makenna Jones/Alle Sanford (UNC) 6-3
Amber O’Dell/Hibah Shaihk def. Kacie Harvey/Anika Yarlagadda (UNC) 6-1

Doubles Rotation 2
No. 3 Sara Daavettila/Alexa Graham (UNC) def. Rosie Johanson/Amber O’Dell – 6-4
Sofia Munera/Natasha Subhash def. No. 45 Cameron Morra/Elizabeth Scotty (UNC) – 6-3
Fiona Crawley/Reilly Tran (UNC) def. Vivian Glozman/Hibah Shaikh – 6-2

Singles
No. 49 Makenna Jones (UNC) def. No. 11 Natasha Subhash – 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7)
Hibah Shaikh def. No. 53 Alle Sanford (UNC) – 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Anika Yarlagadda (UNC) def. No. 91 Sofia Munera – 6-0, 6-1
No. 120 Fiona Crawley (UNC) def. No. 47 Rosie Johanson – 6-2, 6-2
Reilly Tran (UNC) def. No. 104 Amber O’Dell – 7-5, 6-4
Vivian Glozman def. Sophia Patel (UNC) – 6-4, 6-2