CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (January 27, 2023) – Sophomore Maxine Murphy provided the Cougars with their lone victory as No. 8 Virginia posted a 4-1 win over Washington State Friday afternoon in the first round of the 2023 ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
With the loss, the Cougars fall to 2-1 on the season while the Cavaliers improve to 3-0.
Virginia opened the afternoon by sweeping all three doubles matches, though all were competitive. First off was No. 3 where the Cavalier duo of Elaine Chevinsky and Sara Ziodato defeated Elyse Tse and Hania Abouelsaad, 6-3. On Court 2, WSU’s Fifa Kumhom and Yura Nakagawa surrendered an early break and never recovered, falling 6-3 to Natasha Subhash and Annabelle Xu. At No. 1, WSU’s duo of Maxine Murphy and Eva Alvarez Sande dropped a close, 6-4, decision to Julia Adams and Melodie Collard.
In singles play, the Cougars battled, forcing three matches to a third set while Virginia won the remaining three in straight sets. At No. 6, Collard quickly increased Virginia’s lead to 2-0 as she defeated Stefaniia Mikhailova, 6-1, 6-1 while Subash, ranked No. 90, completed a 6-0, 6-2 win over Alvarez Sande at No. 2 to push the lead to 3-0.
Murphy was a bright sport for WSU, as she rallied from a set down to take control of the final two sets in posting a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Adams, the nation’s 34th-ranked player. The victory marked the third ranked win of Murphy’s career and the highest-ranked player she has defeated.
At No. 5, Kumhom dropped a break of serve each set, falling to No. 77…
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