No. 12 Virginia Plays Two Top-10 Opponents on the Road This Week

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  The No. 12 Virginia women’s tennis team (10-1, 2-0) will head to North Carolina for a pair of weekend matches, taking on No. 9 Duke (6-1, 2-0 ACC) on Friday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. and No. 1 North Carolina (13-0, 2-0 ACC) on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m.

MATCH INFORMATION

• Live scoring will be available for the matches. Live video will be available for the Duke match. Links are posted on VirginiaSports.com
• The North Carolina match will take place at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club as the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center is under renovation

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• Despite picking up two wins last week, the Cavaliers dipped to No. 12 in this week’s computerized ITA team rankings
• Natasha Subhash is ranked No. 15 in singles with a team-best 17 singles victories
• Emma Navarro is a perfect 8-0 in singles
• Navarro played in the WTA 250 tournament in Monterrey, Mexico earlier this week, being edged in the first round
• Navarro rose to a career-best No. 202 WTA world ranking in the latest update
• Navarro and Amber O’Dell have reached a career-high No. 7 ITA doubles ranking. They are 6-1 at the No. 1 court this spring
• Sofia Munera is 8-3 in singles in dual matches this spring

NOTING THE OPPONENTS

• Duke has won its last three matches after being upset by then-No. 17 Oklahoma during ITA Kickoff Weekend. Oklahoma has since rocketed to a No. 3 ranking after finishing as the runner-up at ITA Indoors
• Chloe Beck leads the Blue Devils with a 16-6 record and a No. 11 ranking
• Georgia Drummy is also in the top-20 in singles at No. 19
• Virginia won both of last season’s meetings against Duke by a 4-2 score
• Duke leads the all-time series 62-9
• North Carolina is coming off its third consecutive ITA National Team Indoor Championship
• The Cavaliers and Tar Heels faced one another in the tournament’s quarterfinals, with UNC winning 4-1. The Cavaliers won the doubles point in the match
• North Carolina has four singles players ranked in the top-25: No. 7 Cameron Morra, No. 10 Reilly Tran, No. 13 Elizabeth Scotty and No. 25 Carson Tanguilig
• Scotty and Fiona Crawley are ranked No. 2 in doubles with a 16-3 record
• Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary was an assistant coach at North Carolina, her alma mater, from August of 2008 to June of 2014.  During her six years as an assistant coach, O’Leary helped the Tar Heels reach the NCAA Tournament each year, including the 2014 season when UNC reached its first national championship match before falling to UCLA 4-3
• O’Leary played at North Carolina under her maiden name of Anundsen, earning All-America honors in 2006 and 2007, and helped lead the Tar Heels to a pair of Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight appearances. During her senior season, she combined with Jenna Long to win the 2007 NCAA doubles title – the first national championship in UNC program history
• Virginia associate head coach Gina Suarez-Malaguti is also a Tar Heel alumna. A four-year letter winner at North Carolina from 2010-13 while O’Leary was an assistant coach, Suarez-Malaguti earned All-America honors as a senior and she was named the 2013ACC Player of the Year. She was also named the ITA Regional Player of the Year that season, as she maintained a top 10 national ranking in singles the entire year and reached a season-best ranking of No. 4. Suarez-Malaguti played the top spot in the singles lineup in 2013 and helped the Tar Heels advance to the Elite Eight at the NCAA championships and capture the ITA National Team Indoor Championship
• North Carolina leads the all-time series 47-15
• UNC has won the last seven meetings. UVA’s last victory over the Tar Heels came in the Round of 16 of the 2016 NCAA Tournament

ON THE HORIZON

• The Cavaliers have a bye week next week before returning home to host Florida State on Friday, March 18 at 3 p.m. on the outdoor courts of the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort