This weekend the No. 54 Virginia women's tennis team (11-11, 2-6 ACC) will travel to Raleigh, N.C. to begin play in the ACC tournament. As the seventh seed in the bracket, the Cavaliers will take on No. 5 Duke (17-3, 7-1, No. 2 seed) this Friday in first round action.
Virginia is coming off of a successful week featuring two conference victories on the road, and the team is hoping to ride the momentum into the postseason.
"We just came off a win against N.C. State so we're all excited, and we're hoping to do well this weekend," sophomore Kristen James said.
The Cavaliers controlled the matches against the No. 71 Wolfpack last Sunday, posting a 5-1 win. For Virginia, James juniors Dora Bechliwanis and Marta Bechliwanis, and sophomores Lauren Bruch and Shannon Stough were all victorious, winning their respective singles matches. James was especially dominant, handling N.C. State's Nandita Chandrasekar, 6-0, 6-1.
"Winning puts you in a good mood and it makes you want to play the next match and compete again at your hardest," James said. "Everyone's ready and excited to play Duke."
The Blue Devils will be a tough opponent. Despite being upset by No. 16 Clemson last weekend, 5-2, Duke is still ranked fifth in the nation. Their team is led by Amanda Johnson, Jennifer Zika and Saras Arasu, who are ranked No. 7, No. 92 and No. 110 in singles, respectively. Johnson is currently the ACC Co-Performer of the Week after posting six wins in singles and doubles during the past week.
When Virginia and Duke met earlier this season on April 4, the Blue Devils prevailed, winning 6-1. However, the Cavaliers did show promise, as James upset Zika at No. 2 singles.
"We're excited to play Duke again," Virginia assistant coach Mait DuBois said. "We had our opportunities in a lot of matches. We're really just focusing on our performance more than anything. We had our opportunities last time, and if we improve a little bit on the details we'll have our opportunities again this weekend."
There is also a sense that, as a team, the Cavaliers have improved over the course of the season.
"The team has developed real well," James said. "We've had a rough time in terms of winning and losing through the middle of the season but overall we're all playing our best tennis right now."
Despite the challenges ahead, the Cavaliers hope that history will repeat itself as Virginia has traditionally enjoyed success in the ACC tournament. The Cavaliers have advanced to the semifinal round in two out of the last three seasons. Last spring, Virginia upset Georgia Tech in the quarterfinal round, 4-3, before falling to Duke in the semifinals, 4-0.
If the Cavaliers defeat Duke on Friday, they will play the winner of the Florida State-Wake Forest matchup on Saturday. Virginia will be looking for upsets this weekend in postseason play in one of the most stacked conferences in women's tennis.
Read More
West Coast woes strike again as men’s basketball gets hammered by Stanford
By Emory Huffman | 53 minutes agoVirginia, once again in a lost season, looked aimless on the floor.
ISTVAN: Tony Bennett left Virginia in a hole
By Ben Istvan | 9 hours agoHis decision to retire doomed this men's basketball season.
