CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 20 Virginia women’s tennis team (6-3, 0-1 ACC) opened conference play with a 4-1 loss against No. 1 North Carolina (14-1, 0-0 ACC) on Friday (Feb. 24) at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.
The Cavaliers picked up two big victories on the doubles courts. Natasha Subhash and Elaine Chervinsky, who went 9-2 as a doubles team in the fall, rising to as high as a No. 3 ranking in doubles, played together for the first time in a dual match this year, topping Reese Brantmeier and Elizabeth Scotty 6-3 on court one. Mélodie Collard and Julia Adams clinched the point with a 6-3 victory against Fiona Crawley and Carson Tanguilig on court two. Crawley and Tanguilig were ranked No. 1 in doubles in the final rankings of the fall and the first individual rankings of the spring but fell to No. 4 in this week’s updated computer rankings.
The Tar Heels evened the score in singles with a straight-set victory on court four. They went up 3-0 with two more straight-set wins on courts five and one. Elaine Chervinsky had taken her first set 6-3 against Tanguilig, who is ranked No. 7 in singles, on court three, but Tanguilig battled back to win 6-1, 6-2 in the final two sets to clinch the match.
Subhash was in a tiebreaker to decide the second set against Brantmeier, who is ranked No. 27 in singles, when play was abandoned. Subhash had taken the first set 6-4. Collard was also in a third set when play was abandoned.
Virginia will close out the weekend by hosting No. 10 Duke (11-1, 1-0 ACC) on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
From Head Coach Sara O’Leary
“First of all, congratulations to UNC on a well-played match. I also want to thank all of the fans who came out to cheer us on tonight. It was an amazing atmosphere from start to finish and that made a difference, so thank you!
“I felt like we played and competed well today. UNC was just a little bit better down the stretch in singles. A loss like this, when we were right there in many of the singles matches, is extremely motivating and we’ll build on this experience as the season continues.”
#1 North Carolina 4, #20 Virginia 1
Singles competition
- #1 Fiona Crawley (NC) def. #38 Julia Adams (VA) 7-5, 6-3
- #110 Natasha Subhash (VA) vs. #27 Reese Brantmeier (NC) 6-4, 6-6, unfinished
- #7 Carson Tanguilig (NC) def. Elaine Chervinsky (VA) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
- #56 Elizabeth Scotty (NC) def. Sara Ziodato (VA) 6-3, 6-4
- #23 Anika Yarlagadda…