No. 5 Virginia Tops No. 7 Duke 4-3 to Qualify for ITA Indoors
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia women’s tennis team defeated No. 7 Duke 4-3 on Saturday (Jan. 25) in the ITA Kickoff final at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
Senior Elaine Chervinsky won the clincher for the Cavaliers (6-0), breaking a 3-3 tie to help Virginia down Duke (5-1) and qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Illinois.
Junior Annabelle Xu and freshman Martina Genis Salas opened the match with a dominant 6-0 victory on doubles court two. Chervinsky and senior Mélodie Collard topped No. 10 Ellie Coleman and Irina Balus 6-3 on the top court to clinch the doubles point.
Graduate student Sara Ziodato added to the Virginia lead with a 6-3, 6-0 win on court four.
Duke tied the match at two with straight-set wins on courts one and five. On court six, Collard overcame a 4-0 deficit in the second set, pulling out a 6-2, 7-5 win to give Virginia a 3-2 lead.
The Blue Devils tied the match again with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court three.
On the final court, Chervinsky lost the first set 6-1 to Emma Jackson but rallied to tie her match on court two, winning the second set 6-1. In the third set, Chervinsky got the crucial break at 2-2. She saved two break points later in the set, eventually taking the decider 6-3 to clinch a 4-3 win for the Cavaliers.
NOTES
- This will be Virginia’s 13th time competing at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship
- This is the fourth straight year that the Cavaliers have qualified for indoors and the fifth time in the last six years
- ITA Kickoff Weekend is one of the marquee events of the spring tennis season, bringing together the top 56 men’s and women’s college tennis teams for a weekend of intense competition hosted by 14 men’s and women’s programs from across the country. All 112 competing teams are looking to be just one of the 14 teams from each gender to advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships
FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY
“I felt like we came out in doubles, really strong, just very focused, very organized, great energy. We played really well in doubles, but Duke’s a team that fights. We saw that against South Carolina when they lost the doubles point and came back. That’s a team that’s never out of it. So we knew that they were gonna fight in singles, and that’s what they did. Credit to a lot of our upperclassmen with Elaine and Zio and Mélodie. Zio didn’t take her foot off the gas. Elaine came back after losing the first set 1-6, and Melo won the first set but was down 4-0 in the second. It’s a resilient group, and I’m just very proud of them and excited for them. Watching Elaine out there… she’s worked so hard and earned that opportunity to be the last player on the court, which is actually really special feeling. I had so much confidence in her, and I’m just really proud of her and really happy for her.”
NEXT UP
- The Cavaliers are back at home next Saturday (Feb. 1), taking on No. 8 Michigan at 11 a.m. at the Boar’s Head
#5 Virginia 4, #7 Duke 3
Singles competition
- #36 Irina Balus (DU) def. #32 Annabelle Xu (VA) 6-4, 6-1
- #34 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) def. #25 Emma Jackson (DU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
- #30 Eleana Yu (DU) def. Karolina Kozakova (VA) 6-2, 6-3
- #51 Sara Ziodato (VA) def. #49 Shavit Kimchi (DU) 6-3, 6-0
- Ellie Coleman (DU) def. #94 Martina Genis Salas (VA) 6-4, 6-0
- #59 Melodie Collard (VA) def. Katie Codd (DU) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles competition
- #2 Elaine Chervinsky/Melodie Collard (VA) def. #10 Ellie Coleman/Irina Balus (DU) 6-3
- #27 Annabelle Xu/Martina Genis Salas (VA) def. Emma Jackson/Shavit Kimchi (DU) 6-0
- Karolina Kozakova/Sara Ziodato (VA) vs. Katie Codd/Eleana Yu (DU) 5-3, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,1,5,6,3,2)
T-2:33 A-262