CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 13 Virginia women’s tennis team (15-4, 8-0 ACC) defeated No. 5 North Carolina (18-2, 6-1 ACC) by a 4-3 score on Sunday (March 29) at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville, Va.
The Tar Heels won the doubles point, sweeping all three courts, and held an early advantage in singles, winning four of six first sets, but the Cavaliers fought back.
Freshman Katie Rolls tied the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win against No. 7 Oby Kajuru on court three. It was the first career top-10 victory for the unranked Rolls.
North Carolina edged back out to a 2-1 lead with a win on court five, but senior Mélodie Collard tied it up 2-2 with a straight set victory on court six.
Junior Vivian Yang rebounded from a 6-1 loss in the first set to 2025 NCAA Singles Champion Reese Brantmeier by taking the second set 6-1 to force a third. Brantmeier edged Yang in the final set 6-4 to give the Tar Heels a 3-2 advantage.
On court four, sophomore Isabelle Lacy and Anna Frey had battled to a tiebreaker to decide their first set, with Frey finally edging Lacy 10-8. Lacy battled through the second set, forcing another tiebreaker, which she took 7-5 to send their match to a third set. Lacy won the decider 6-2 to tie the match at three.
Court two was the deciding match. Senior Annabelle Xu dropped her first set 6-3 against Tatum Evans, winning the second 6-3 to send it to a third set. Xu won the third set 6-4 to clinch the Cavalier victory.
This was the second meeting of the year between the two teams. North Carolina won a non-conference match 6-1 on January 19 in Chapel Hill.
FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY
“First of all, thanks to our amazing crowd that was out here at this match. It made a huge difference. The atmosphere was amazing. The squash team was out here, the volleyball team was out here. Big shout-out to [head volleyball coach] Shannon [Wells]. I heard her up there. She brought her whole team, and it made a huge difference. But everybody who came out made a difference in that match. I'm just really proud of the toughness and resilience of this team. They just stay right there. They don't get ahead, they don't get behind, they don't get down, and that's what we had to do today, especially after losing that doubles point, where we didn't play that well in doubles. UNC is a very good team in doubles, so we just responded in singles. Our team stayed so united and so together out there, and that's what won us this match today. So I’m just super proud of them.”
NOTES
- Virginia now has sole possession of first place in the ACC as the only undefeated team in conference play
- Virginia is on a nine-match win streak
- This was the Cavaliers’ first home match played on their outdoor courts this season
- Both Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary and associate head coach Gina Suarez-Malaguti are North Carolina alumnae. O'Leary, who won an NCAA doubles title while at UNC, went on to serve as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 2008-14, being named the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011
ON THE HORIZON
- The Cavaliers head west to take on No. 19 Cal on Friday, April 3 and Stanford on Sunday, April 5
#13 Virginia 4, #5 North Carolina 3
Singles competition
- #3 Reese Brantmeier (UNC) def. #81 Vivian Yang (VA) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4
- #32 Annabelle Xu (VA) def. #26 Tatum Evans (UNC) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
- Katie Rolls (VA) def. #7 Oby Kajuru (UNC) 6-3, 6-3
- #108 Isabelle Lacy (VA) def. #113 Anna Frey (UNC) 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
- Maddy Zampardo (UNC) def. #106 Martina Genis Salas (VA) 6-3, 6-4
- Melodie Collard (VA) def. Thea Rabman (UNC) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition
- #6 Oby Kajuru/Susanna Maltby (UNC) def. #4 Melodie Collard/Vivian Yang (VA) 6-2
- #5 Reese Brantmeier/Alanis Hamilton (UNC) def. #36 Annabelle Xu/Martina Genis Salas (VA) 6-3
- Tatum Evans/Maddy Zampardo (UNC) def. Katie Rolls/Isabelle Lacy (VA) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,5,6,1,4,2)
T-3:43 A-437