UVA tennis All-American Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) was defeated by North Carolina’s Jamie Loeb 7-5, 6-1 in the singles final at the inaugural American Collegiate Invitational at the US Open Saturday (Sept. 6) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
Elbaba finished the prestigious tournament with a 2-1 mark, posting victories against former collegiate stars Alex Cercone (Florida) and Kristie Ahn (Stanford).
“I felt like I left everything out on the court,” Elbaba said. “I fell a little short in the first set and in the second set, Jamie [Loeb] played with a lot of confidence. She played really well. I’m a little disappointed. It’s kind of sad to lose at home, but also proud. I played some of my best tennis this week.”
With the win, Loeb garnered a wild card into the qualifying draw of the 2015 US Open. Loeb is also the reigning 2014 ITA Women’s College Player of the Year.
Elbaba has earned three ITA All-America honors at Virginia, including a pair of singles honors. In 2013-14, Elbaba posted a 31-6 singles record and finished the season ranked sixth in the final ITA rankings.