The No. 16 Virginia women’s tennis team (8-4, 4-1 ACC) defeated No. 19 Clemson, 7-0, in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest on Sunday (March 6) at the Snyder Tennis Center in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers rebounded from Friday’s 4-3 loss to No. 3 North Carolina by winning two of three doubles matches and all six singles matches, taking all but one in straight-sets, against the Tigers (5-5, 3-2 ACC).
“I am very proud of the entire team and very happy for them in getting a strong, solid win today,” said Virginia head coach Mark Guilbeau. “Clemson is a great program with a lot of tradition. If you look at all of the sets, they were close, and all went our way, which speaks to the fact that our players came in with the right attitude and right heart. A two-match weekend isn’t easy and this could have been rough. We asked them to understand that they played great on Friday and to use that loss as hunger for when they got to play again today. They had the composure and really good emotional set to come out and do just that, which is a sign of good things going forward for us.”
Virginia started the match with senior Stephanie Nauta (Galveston, Texas) and freshman Cassie Mercer (Huntington, W.V.) getting a quick 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles, but senior Julia Elbaba (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and freshman Erica Susi (Vero Beach, Fla.) fell 6-2 at No. 3, causing the doubles point to be decided by the outcome of court 1. The match was knotted 3-3 when senior Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and freshman Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Me.) won three-straight games to win 6-3 and clinch the doubles point.
In singles, the Cavaliers swept each of the first sets with Elbaba putting UVA up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Joana Eidukonyte at No. 2 followed shortly thereafter by Susi wrapping up a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Daniela Ruiz on court six. Kelley secured the victory with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jenny Moinard at No. 5.
Nauta trailed in her first set, 5-1, but rallied to win 7-5 and then took the second set 6-4 over Fernanda Navarro at No. 3. Collins battled Ayan Broomfield for a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1. Junior Victoria Olivarez (Virginia Beach, Va.) won her first set, 6-3, but fell 6-3 in the second before winning the third-set tiebreaker to secure the 7-0 victory for the Cavaliers.
Virginia will be back in action next Saturday, March 12, hosting No. 4 Michigan at 12 p.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center.
#16 Virginia 7, #19 Clemson 0
Singles competition
- #3 Danielle Collins (VA) def. #50 Ayan Broomfield (CU) 6-4, 6-2
- #18 Julia Elbaba (VA) def. #13 Joana Eidukonyte (CU) 6-2, 6-1
- #69 Stephanie Nauta (VA) def. #92 Fernanda Navarro (CU) 7-5, 6-4
- Victoria Olivarez (VA) def. Tristen Dewar (CU) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0
- Meghan Kelley (VA) def. Jenny Moinard (CU) 6-4, 6-3
- Erica Susi (VA) def. Daniela Ruiz (CU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
- #23 Danielle Collins/Meghan Kelley (VA) def. Ayan Broomfield/Fernanda Navarro (CU) 6-3
- Stephanie Nauta/Cassie Mercer (VA) def. A Miller-Krasilnikov/Tristen Dewar (CU) 6-1
- Joana Eidukonyte/Daniela Ruiz (CU) def. Julia Elbaba/Erica Susi (VA) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,6,5,3,1,4)
T-2:36 A-83
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