Virginia falls to No. 1 North Carolina in ACC Semifinals

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Fourth-seeded Virginia suffered a 4-1 loss against No. 1 North Carolina in the semifinals of the 2021 ACC Women’s Tennis Championship on Saturday in a match played on the indoor courts at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.

Sophomore Natasha Subhash (Fairfax, Va.) picked up UVA’s point with a win on singles court two.

In doubles, North Carolina (25-0) won all three courts to take the early 1-0 lead. The Tar Heels added straight-set victories on singles courts five and six to take a 3-0 lead.

Virginia (14-6), making its first ACC semifinal appearance since 2015, would not go out without a fight.

Subhash and No. 24 Cameron Morra were deadlocked in the first set before Subhash won a tiebreaker 7-4. Subhash took the second set 6-3 to put the Cavaliers on the board.

On court three, senior Rosie Johanson (Vancouver, Canada) had dropped her first set 6-3 against No. 34 Alexa Graham. With her team trailing 3-0, she and Graham headed to a tiebreaker to decide the second set, with Johanson outlasting Graham 13-11 to force a third set and kept the Cavaliers in the match.

The top court featured a showdown between the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked singles players in the country. No. 1 Sara Daavettila of North Carolina took the first set 6-3. Freshman Emma Navarro (Charleston, S.C.), who is currently ranked No. 2 but has also held the top spot in the rankings this season, took the second set 6-2. Navarro was up a break in the decider when play was halted.

Freshman Hibah Shaikh (Teaneck, N.J.) took No. 23 Makenna Jones to a tiebreaker to decide their first set on court four, but Jones came away with the 8-6 win. Shaikh battled through a long second set before falling 6-4, giving the match to the Tar Heels.

Johanson’s match was abandoned in the third set.