Virginia Concludes Play at Fall Ranked Spotlight Tournament

CARY, N.C.–  Four members of the Virginia women’s tennis team competed in the Fall Ranked Spotlight tournament, being held Sept. 22-25 at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.

Grad student Julia Adams, juniors Hibah Shaikh and Sara Ziodato and freshman Annabelle Zu all competed as individuals in the tournament.

The tournament has two 32-player singles compass draws featuring players from Arizona State, Auburn, Duke, ETSU, Kansas, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, NC State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Princeton, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCF, USC and Virginia will be competing. Each team will provide a maximum of four singles players and two doubles teams, with at least two preseason-ranked singles players and one ranked doubles team.

Adams, the No. 15 seed in the tournament, competed in the A1 singles draw.

Ziodato and Xu played in the A2 singles draw.

In singles, Adams, Ziodato, and Xu each lost their opening matches, falling into the consolation bracket of their respective draws. Ziodato and Xu closed out the tournament by winning three straight singles matches to go 3-1 on the weekend.

Adams dropped her showdown with No. 2 Sarah Hamner of South Carolina on Friday to drop into the A1 back draw. On Saturday, Adams picked up a win against No. 17 Kari Miller of Michigan and No. 90 Marie Mattel of UCF while Ziodato and Xu defeated opponents from Princeton, Auburn, Texas A&M and Miami.

In doubles, Xu and Shaikh split their doubles results, winning one and dropping one while Adams and Ziodato dropped both of their doubles matches. Adams and Ziodato were edged 7-6 in their final doubles match on Sunday morning.

Shaikh was a 5-8 seed in the A2 singles draw, but withdrew from singles play.

Singles competition
32 #46 Giulia Morlet (Arizona State) def. #35 Julia Adams (Virginia) 2-6, 7-6, 6-1
c #2 Sarah Hamner (South Carolina) def. #35 Julia Adams (Virginia) 7-5, 6-3
c #35 Julia Adams (Virginia) def. #17 Kari Miller (Michigan) 4-6, 6-4, 12-10
c #35 Julia Adams (Virginia) def. #90 Marie Mattel (UCF) 6-1, 6-4
c #23 Abigail Rencheli (NC State) def. #35 Julia Adams (Virginia) 6-2, 7-5

32 Julia Garcia Ruiz (Oklahoma) def. Sara Ziodato (Virginia) 6-1, 6-3
c Sara Ziodato (Virginia) def. #111 Rachel Hanford (Arizona State) 6-3, 6-3
c Sara Ziodato (Virginia) def. Maia Sung (Princeton) 6-1, 6-1
c Sara Ziodato (Virginia) def. Kaitlyn Carcinella (Auburn) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2

32 Lily Jones (Michigan) def. Annabelle Xu (Virginia) 3-6, 7-6, 7-5
c Annabelle Xu (Virginia) def. Lauren Anzalotta (Tennessee) 6-2, 6-4
c Annabelle Xu (Virginia) def. #109 Jayci Goldsmith (Texas A&M) 6-4, 6-2
c Annabelle Xu (Virginia) def. Audrey Boch-Collins (Miami) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition
Hibah Shaikh/Annabelle Xu (Virginia) def. Isabella Pfennig/Maya Tahan (Miami) 6-3
Julia Fliegner/Lily Jones (Michigan) def. Sara Ziodato/Julia Adams (Virginia) 6-2
Kolie Allen/Lucia Marzal (Ohio State) def. Hibah Shaikh/Annabelle Xu (Virginia) 6-1
Malkia Ngounoue/Tamari Gagoshidze (Kansas) def. Sara Ziodato/Julia Adams (Virginia) 6-1
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase (Tennessee) def. Sara Ziodato/Julia Adams (Virginia) 7-6