No. 5 Virginia Downs No. 13 Tennessee to Advance at ITA Indoors

EVANSTON, Ill. –  The No. 5 Virginia women’s tennis won their opener of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, topping No. 13 Tennessee 4-2 on Friday (Feb. 7) at the Combe Tennis Center.

Sophomore Blanca Pico Navarro clinched the victory for the Cavaliers (7-1), saving three match points to help Virginia defeat Tennessee (4-1) and advance to the quarterfinals. The Cavaliers will face No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 1 p.m. ET.

Freshman Karolina Kozakova and senior Melodie Collard won 6-4 on the top court to open the match. Junior Meggie Navarro and grad student Sara Ziodato picked up a 6-3 win on doubles court three to give Virginia an early 1-0 lead in the match.

The Volunteers tied the match with a straight set victory on court four.

Collard pulled away in the second set on court five, winning 7-6 (1), 6-1 to put the Cavaliers back up 2-1.

Tennessee tied the match again with a hard-fought win in straight sets on the top court.

On court three, freshman Isabelle Lacy split sets with Maeve Thornton but raced to a 3-0 lead in the decider. Lacy cruised to victory in the third set, taking her match 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to give the Cavaliers a 3-2 lead over the Volunteers.

Conley Raidt served for the match twice against Pico Navarro and had three match points in the deciding set but was unable to convert. Pico Navarro fended off all three match points, winning the match in a tiebreaker to clinch the victory for Virginia and send the Cavaliers to the quarterfinals.

MATCH NOTES

• Karolina Kozakova made her debut on the doubles top court, picking up a win with Melodie Collard
• Collard recorded her first ranked singles win in dual match play this season, topping No. 77 Vanesa Suarez to improve to 6-1 in dual matches this year
• Blanca Pico Navarro improves to 3-0 in dual matches to open the season
• Senior Elaine Chervinsky was a late scratch from the lineup
• The Cavaliers won their fifth straight against Tennessee

#5 Virginia 4, #13 Tennessee 2
Singles competition

1. #7 Elza Tomase (TENN) def. #27 Annabelle Xu (VA) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
2. #33 Sara Ziodato (VA) vs. #32 Catherine Aulia (TENN) 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
3. Isabelle Lacy (VA) def. Maeve Thornton (TENN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
4. #104 Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) def. Martina Genis Salas (VA) 6-1, 6-3
5. #64 Melodie Collard (VA) def. #77 Vanesa Suarez (TENN) 7-6 (7-1), 6-1
6. Blanca Pico Navarro (VA) def. Conley Raidt (TENN) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3)

Doubles competition

1. Karolina Kozakova/Melodie Collard (VA) def. #75 Elza Tomase/Elim Yan (TENN) 6-4
2. #23 Martina Genis Salas/Annabelle Xu (VA) vs. Catherine Aulia/Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) 5-6, unfinished
3. #73 Meggie Navarro/Sara Ziodato (VA) def. #54 Maeve Thornton/Vanesa Suarez (TENN) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (4,5,1,3,6)

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