Virginia’s Season Ends at the NCAA Round of 16

ORLANDO, Fla. –  The No. 13 Virginia women’s tennis team (16-7) had its season end in the Round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship with a 4-1 loss against No. 3 Georgia (22-1) on Sunday (May 16) at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

Georgia won the doubles point and picked up singles victories on courts two, three and five. Freshman Hibah Shaikh (Teaneck, N.J.) earned a point for UVA with a victory on singles court four.

The Bulldogs held an early advantage in doubles with a 6-2 win on court two, but senior Vivian Glozman (Bellevue, Wash.) and Shaikh countered with a 6-2 win of their own on court three. Freshman Emma Navarro (Charleston, S.C.) and senior Rosie Johanson (Vancouver, Canada) were edged 6-4 on the top court by the No. 6 doubles team of Katarina Jokic and Ariana Arseneault to give the point to Georgia.

In singles, Georgia took a 2-0 lead with a straight-set victory on court three. On court five, O’Dell dropped her first set in a tiebreaker against No. 52 Marta Gonzalez, and then fell 6-3 in the second set to give Georgia a 3-0 lead.

The other four courts were all three-set battles.

Shaikh had won her first set 6-4 but lost her second 6-0 on court four against Morgan Coppoc. She battled back to win the third set 6-2 to put the Cavaliers on the board.

On court two, sophomore Natasha Subhash (Fairfax, Va.) had won her first set 6-2 against Lea Ma, but dropped the second 6-3. The two battled to a 6-6 deadlock in the second set, forcing a tiebreaker. Subhash held an early 2-0 lead, but Ma rallied and won 7-4 to close out the victory.

FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY

“Congrats to Georgia. They played a fantastic match. It was such a battle out there on every single court. I’m extremely proud of our team. We have faced a lot of adversity all season and to see this team always stay together, continue to believe in each other and end our season leaving everything they had out there on the court is something I’m incredibly grateful for. They are a resilient group and have had unbelievable leadership from Vivian and Rosie. Those two have meant so much to this program and have been outstanding examples. I’m just incredibly thankful to my team, my staff and all of the UVA support within the athletic department and the community.”

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• Virginia is ranked No. 13 in the ITA rankings but was the No. 14 seed in the Championship
• Hibah Shaikh went 3-0 in singles in the NCAA Championship
• Vivian Glozman finishes her career with a 58-36 record in singles and 54-34 record in doubles
• Rosie Johanson finishes her career with a 77-36 record in singles. She will be playing in next week’s NCAA Doubles Championship
• The match lasted three and a half hours

VIRGINIA & THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

• This is Virginia’s seventh time advancing to the Round of 16, the first time since 2016 and the first time under head coach Sara O’Leary
• The Cavaliers’ best finish has been two runs of the quarterfinals (2014 and 2016)

ON THE HORIZON

• The NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will run from May 23-28
• Emma Navarro and Natasha Subhash will compete in the singles championship
• Virginia will have two doubles teams in the championship: Navarro and Rosie Johanson and Subhash and Sofia Munera

#3 Georgia 4, #13 Virginia 1

Singles competition

1. #4 Katarina Jokic (UGA) vs. #3 Emma Navarro (VA) 6-4, 5-7, 5-3, unfinished
2. #55 Lea Ma (UGA) def. #9 Natasha Subhash (VA) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
3. #20 Meg Kowalski (UGA) def. #90 Rosie Johanson (VA) 6-3, 6-3
4. Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. #68 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) 6-4, 0-6, 6-2
5. #52 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) def. Amber O’Dell (VA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
6. Elena Christofi (UGA) vs. Sofia Munera (VA) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 5-4, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. #6 Katarina Jokic/Ariana Arseneault (UGA) def. #21 Rosie Johanson/Emma Navarro (VA) 6-4
2. Elena Christofi/Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. #17 Sofia Munera/Natasha Subhash (VA) 6-2
3. Vivian Glozman/Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. Lea Ma/Meg Kowalski (UGA) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,5,4,2)

T-3:30