The Virginia women's tennis team will have a strange sense of deja vu when they play their first round match of the ACC tournament tomorrow afternoon, as they will go up against the No. 4 team in the country for the second time in less than a week. The Cavaliers will have revenge on their mind, as they will look to avenge a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Demon Deacons this past Sunday.
Virginia finished the season with an 11-9 record in Phil Rogers' 20th year as head coach. The campaign was filled with highlights as the Cavaliers picked up big wins over No. 45 Florida State, for the first time in Rogers' career, No. 46 Princeton, No. 52 Maryland and No. 75 Marshall.
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The young team did not finish as well in conference as out, finishing with a 2-6 record in the ACC. This was something assistant coach Constantine Ananiadis hoped would change for the better late in the season.
"We [had] a really rough stretch there where we lost to four teams that were all ranked No. 39 or lower," he said. "We have had some individual players pick up some really big wins throughout the season, but toward the end of the year we were really looking to come together as a team. It was tough with a lot of the injuries we suffered at the end of the season."
One of the wins that coach Ananiadis speaks of is junior Henriette Williams' comeback victory over Duke's Kelly McCain, the No. 5 player in the country. The Cavaliers used the momentum from that match to upset No. 52 Maryland before losing the last two to end the season.
"It was an exciting win," Williams said of her battle with McCain. "We [wanted it] to give us momentum going into the rest of the season. We have had some tough breaks with injuries and sicknesses, but we know we can play good tennis as a team and do some good things at the end of the season, which hopefully means a chance at the NCAA tournament."
The Cavaliers will need big contributions from its two freshmen if they hope to make a run in the ACC tournament. Twins Marta and Dora Bechliwanis have come up big for the Cavaliers on several occasions, both individually and as a doubles team.
Though the freshmen have been important for Virginia, it has been the play of the upperclassmen that has carried them throughout the year. Williams and fellow junior Jennifer Tuchband, ranked No. 100 in the nation, are the Cavaliers' No. 1 and 2 seeds. Tuchband came up with a straight set victory in the last match against Wake Forest.
The other win came from senior co-captain Christine Kim, who with her doubles partner, senior Amy O'Donnell, will look to pick up big wins in the ACC tournament to prolong their collegiate careers.
Wake Forest will feature two ranked players, including No. 16 Janet Bergman, who beat Williams in straight sets last week. Williams will look to turn the tables and come up with another big win tomorrow to start the Cavaliers off on a good foot.
Virginia's match against the Demon Deacons is scheduled to take place Friday at 3 p.m. at the Millbrook Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C.
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