Women’s Tennis: No. 5 Virginia advances to Round of 16 with Princeton sweep

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 5 Virginia women’s tennis team (22-5) advanced to the Round of 16 of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Tennis Team Championship with a 4-0 victory against Princeton (12-11) on Sunday at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.

Freshman Elaine Chervinsky and junior Natasha Subhash gave UVA an early edge with a 6-3 win on the No. 2 doubles court. Seniors Sofia Munera and Amber O’Dell clinched the point with a 7-5 win on court three.

In singles, the Cavaliers won all six first sets. Chervinsky was the first to finish her match, winning 6-2, 6-2 against higher-ranked Victoria Hu, 6-2, 6-2. Seconds later, Subhash won 6-3, 6-3 against Neha Velaga on court two to give UVA a 3-0 lead.

It was a race to clinch between sophomores Hibah Shaikh on court five and Sara Ziodato on six. Shaikh won 6-4, 6-2 against Zoe Howard. Ziodato was up 5-3 (30-15) when play was halted.

In a preview of a possible NCAA Singles Championship semifinal match, sophomore Emma Navarro, who is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, faced the No. 4 seed Daria Frayman on court one. Frayman went up a break to lead the first set 5-3 when Navarro stormed back to win the next four games and win 7-5. Navarro was leading 3-0 in the second set when play was halted.

Virginia will host No. 12 Oklahoma State in a one-match Super Regional next weekend. The winner will advance to the site of the finals in Champaign, Ill. with the quarterfinals through championship matches being contested May 20-22.

This is the second-straight year that the Cavaliers have advanced to the tournament’s Round of 16 and the seventh overall time in program history. It will be UVA’s first time hosting a Super Regional since the tournament changed to that format in 2019.

Virginia is the only school that will be hosting men’s and women’s Super Regionals next weekend.

FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY

“I think we were really prepared to play this Princeton team. We have a lot of respect for them and knew that they were a very talented, very strong team, very well-coached, so we definitely didn’t take them lightly. We just came out of the gates ready to go. Doubles was tough. It was really back and forth. The girls just stayed super composed in the big moments and that’s what we’ve been working on all year. They absolutely did that and executed that today.”

“We’re just excited to be in the Round of 16. It’s another step in this tournament. Thankfully, last year, we got the experience of playing in the 16. It was the first time we’ve been there since in our past five years at Virginia. I think having that experience is going to help us going into this next round. Last year, we were playing in Orlando for the Sweet 16. This year, we get to be at home. We had a great crowd out there today and yesterday and that made a big difference. So hopefully we can get a good crowd next weekend, because it really does help and it’s just a great atmosphere.”

MATCH NOTES

• Princeton is ranked No. 44 in the latest ITA team rankings

#5 Virginia 4, #44 Princeton 0

Singles competition

1. #1 Emma Navarro (VA) vs. #4 Daria Frayman (PRIN) 7-5, 3-0, unfinished
2. #44 Natasha Subhash (VA) def. Neha Velaga (PRIN) 6-3, 6-3
3. #72 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) def. #54 Victoria Hu (PRIN) 6-2, 6-2
4. Sofia Munera (VA) vs. #77 Brianna Shvets (PRIN) 7-5, 3-4, unfinished
5. Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. Zoe Howard (PRIN) 6-4, 6-2
6. Sara Ziodato (VA) vs. Maia Sung (PRIN) 6-4, 5-3, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. #3 Emma Navarro/Hibah Shaikh (VA) vs. Grace Joyce/Maia Sung (PRIN) 5-5, unfinished
2. #62 Elaine Chervinsky/Natasha Subhash (VA) def. Daria Frayman/Nathalie Rodilosso (PRIN) 6-3
3. #73 Sofia Munera/Amber O’Dell (VA) def. Zoe Howard/Neha Velaga (PRIN) 7-5

Order of finish: Doubles (23); Singles (3,2,5)

NCAA Charlottesville Regional 2nd Round

T-2:20 A-147