Women’s Tennis: Virginia falls in ACC Championship match

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia women’s tennis team (20-5) had its run in the 2022 ACC Women’s Tennis Championship come to an end with a 4-1 loss against Duke (19-3) in the final on Sunday at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.

Sophomore Emma Navarro earned the Cavaliers’ point.

Junior Natasha Subhash and senior Sofia Munera opened the match with a 6-1 win on doubles court two. Duke won 6-2 on three to put the fate of the doubles point on court one. Sophomores Emma Navarro and Hibah Shaikh battled Georgia Drummy and Karolina Berankova to a 6-6 tie, but were edged 7-5 in the breaker as Duke took the 1-0 lead.

Duke went up 2-0 with a win on singles court two before Navarro evened the match with a 6-4, 6-2 win against No. 8 Chloe Beck. Sara Ziodato battled Ellie Coleman on court six, but was edged 6-4, 7-6 (2) as Duke took a 3-1 lead. The Blue Devils clinched the match on another tiebreaker, this one to determine the third set on court three. Emma Jackson edged Elaine Chervinsky 7-3 in the breaker to clinch the victory.

FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY

“Congratulations to Duke. I thought they competed really well. I’m super proud of our squad. We beat the No. 3 and No. 1 teams in the country this weekend. This team can play with anyone and they are really believing that. We will learn from today and prepare for NCAA’s in two weeks.”

MATCH NOTES

• This was the third time in program history the Cavaliers made the final of the Championship and the first time since 2015
• Duke is ranked No. 5 in the latest ITA team rankings. Virginia is No. 7
• The Blue Devils were the No. 2 seed. Virginia was the No. 4 seed
• The teams were on serve in the third set on the remaining two courts when the match was clinched

ON THE HORIZON

• The Cavaliers have a bye week next week
• Selections for the NCAA Team Championship will be announced on Monday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. in a selection show that will stream online on NCAA.com
• The NCAA Championship begins at four-team regional sites on Saturday, May 7. One team from each site will advance to a super regional on May 13 or 14 at host sites. The final eight teams will advance to the finals site in Champaign, Illinois. Quarterfinals begin on Friday, May 20
• Selections for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships will be announced on Tuesday, May 3 by a press release

#5 Duke 4, #7 Virginia 1

Singles competition

1. #1 Emma Navarro (VA) def. #8 Chloe Beck (DU) 6-4, 6-2
2. #14 Georgia Drummy (DU) def. #42 Natasha Subhash (VA) 6-3, 6-2
3. #124 Emma Jackson (DU) def. #67 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
4. #100 Kelly Chen (DU) vs. Sofia Munera (VA) 5-7, 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
5. Margaryta Bilokin (DU) vs. Hibah Shaikh (VA) 7-5, 4-6, 3-3, unfinished
6. Ellie Coleman (DU) def. Sara Ziodato (VA) 6-4, 7-6

Doubles competition

1. #31 Georgia Drummy/Karolina Berankova (DU) def. #8 Emma Navarro/Hibah Shaikh (VA) 7-6 (7-4)
2. #59 Natasha Subhash/Sofia Munera (VA) def. #27 Chloe Beck/Ellie Coleman (DU) 6-1
3. Eliza Omirou/Margaryta Bilokin (DU) def. Elaine Chervinsky/Amber O’Dell (VA) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,1,6,3)