No. 11 Virginia Wins 4-1 at UCF

ORLANDO, Fla. –  The No. 11 Virginia women’s tennis team (10-3, 3-1 ACC) picked up a 4-1 victory at No. 29 UCF (6-6, 0-0 AAC) on Friday (March 10) at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

Virginia won the doubles point and picked up two straight-set victories. Grad student Julia Adams clinched the victory with a win on the top court.

UCF opened the match with a 6-2 win on doubles court three. UVA evened things when Mélodie Collard and Adams closed out a 6-4 win on court one. Court two was decided in a tiebreaker with Elaine Chervinsky and Natasha Subhash coming out ahead with a 7-5 win in the breaker.

Sara Ziodato gave UVA a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win at singles court five. UCF picked up a point with a win on court three. Hibah Shaikh gave UVA a 3-1 edge with a 6-4, 6-0 win on court four.

Adams rebounded from dropping her first set 6-1 against No. 30 Marie Mattel with a 6-4 win in the second. She took the decider 6-2 to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY

“I’m really proud of the team and the way they competed tonight. We faced a lot of adversity at the beginning of the week with some illnesses but the team put their heads down and went to work tonight against a very good and talented UCF team. Doubles was not easy but Elaine and Natasha really stepped up in that tiebreaker in some of the biggest moments of the match. I love the way this team is believing in themselves and in each other no matter the situation.”

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia is home next weekend, hosting Notre Dame on Friday, March 17, at 4:30 p.m. and Louisville on Sunday, March 19, at 10:30 a.m.

#11 Virginia 4, #29 UCF 1
Singles competition

1. #44 Julia Adams (VA) def. #30 Marie Mattel (UCF) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. Noel Saidenova (UCF) vs. #78 Natasha Subhash (VA) 0-6, 6-3, 4-4, unfinished
3. Stefani Webb (UCF) def. #124 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) 6-3, 6-3
4. #89 Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. Jantje Tilbuerger (UCF) 6-4, 6-0
5. Sara Ziodato (VA) def. Sophia Biolay (UCF) 6-2, 6-2
6. Nandini Sharma (UCF) vs. Melodie Collard (VA) 4-6, 6-4, 3-1, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. #7 Melodie Collard/Julia Adams (VA) def. Noel Saidenova/Jantje Tilbuerger (UCF) 6-4
2. #6 Elaine Chervinsky/Natasha Subhash (VA) def. #61 Sophia Biolay/Marie Mattel (UCF) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Nandini Sharma/Stefani Webb (UCF) def. Hibah Shaikh/Nicole Kiefer (VA) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,3,4,1)
T-2:53 A-109