Virginia advances to ACC Championship semifinal

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia women’s tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the 2021 ACC Women’s Tennis Championship after downing Duke by a 4-2 score on Friday at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.

The match began on the outdoor courts and resumed on the Rome Tennis Center indoor courts after a two-hour delay. Junior Amber O’Dell (New Milford, N.J.) had the clinching victory on singles court five.

Virginia (14-5, 9-4 ACC) will take on top-seed North Carolina (24-0) on Saturday (Apr. 24) in the semifinals. Match time is set for 10 a.m.

In doubles, Virginia opened up an early advantage as senior Rosie Johanson (Vancouver, Canada) and freshman Emma Navarro (Charleston, S.C.) picked up a 6-1 win over Duke’s No. 7 ranked doubles team of Meible Chi and Margaryta Bilokin. Senior Vivian Glozman (Bellevue, Wash.) and freshman Hibah Shaikh (Teaneck, N.J.) clinched the point with a 6-3 victory on court three.

Five of the six courts finished their first sets before the rain came and halted play. Virginia and Duke (15-6, 9-4 ACC) also had to wait for North Carolina and Wake Forest to complete their match before resuming play.

After a two-hour delay, the Cavaliers and Blue Devils picked up where they left off. Junior Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) finished off a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Karolina Berankova to give UVA a 2-0 lead. Duke won in straight sets on court two to make it 2-1. Navarro closed out a 6-1, 6-4 victory on court one against Kelly Chen to put UVA on the brink.

On court five, O’Dell had won her first set 6-1 against Margaryta Bilokin, but dropped the second 6-3. O’Dell won the decider 6-2 to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

Johanson had just begun a tiebreaker to decide her second set in a tight match on court two against No. 40 Chole Beck when play was abandoned.