Women’s Tennis: Virginia blanks Cal, 4-0, to advance to ACC semifinal round

Photo: UVA Athletics

The No. 7 Virginia women’s tennis team blanked No. 20 Cal, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the 2025 ACC Women’s Tennis Championship on Friday at the Cary Tennis Park.

Virginia (19-4) won the doubles point and three singles matches in straight sets to sweep the 5-seed Golden Bears (13-8).

With the win, the 4-seed Cavaliers advance to the semifinals to face top-seeded Duke (21-2) on Saturday at 10 a.m. The match will air on ACCNX.

Freshman Martina Genis Salas and junior Annabelle Xu picked up a 6-4 victory on doubles court two to start the match. Junior Meggie Navarro and graduate student Sara Ziodato clinched the doubles point for the Hoos on doubles court three, winning 6-4 to put the Hoos up 1-0.

Senior Melodie Collard extended the UVA lead to 2-0 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Naomi Xu on court six.

On court four, Genis Salas won the opening set against Berta Passola Folch, 6-2, but fell behind in the second. Trailing 5-1, Genis Salas won five straight games and forced a tiebreaker in the second set, saving three set points along the way. Genis Salas finished off the match in the tiebreak, coming away with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win to put the Cavaliers up 3-0.

Senior Elaine Chervinsky clinched the victory for the Hoos on court two, winning two narrow sets to take down No. 49 Jessica Alsola, 7-5, 6-4, to send Virginia to the semifinals.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Elaine Chervinsky, Melodie Collard, and Martina Genis Salas each picked up their fifth straight singles win (in completed matches)
• Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu improve to 26-8 on the season in doubles and 15-5 on doubles court two
• The Cavaliers and Blue Devils met once this season in Charlottesville on January 25. UVA picked up a 4-3 victory
• Virginia is looking for its third ACC title. UVA won back-to-back titles in 2014-15
• Virginia has made three trips to the finals since 1990 (the present format for the championship). UVA was the runner-up in 2022

VIRGINIA 4, CALIFORNIA 0

Singles
1. #20 Sara Ziodato (VA) vs. #28 Mao Mushika (CAL) 2-6, 6-4, unfinished
2. #33 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) def. #49 Jessica Alsola (CAL) 7-5, 6-4
3. #35 Annabelle Xu (VA) vs. #43 Lan Mi (CAL) 4-6, 5-5, unfinished
4. Martina Genis Salas (VA) def. Berta Passola Folch (CAL) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
5. Isabelle Lacy (VA) vs. Greta Greco Lucchina (CAL) 2-6, 7-5, 1-1, unfinished
6. Melodie Collard (VA) def. Naomi Xu (CAL) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles
1. #1 Elaine Chervinsky/Melodie Collard (VA) vs. #4 Jessica Alsola/Mao Mushika (CAL) 6-6, unfinished
2. #51 Martina Genis Salas/Annabelle Xu (VA) def. Berta Passola Folch/Greta Greco Lucchina (CAL) 6-4
3. Meggie Navarro/Sara Ziodato (VA) def. Lan Mi/Naomi Xu (CAL) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,4,2)