In a battle of winless ACC teams Tuesday, the Virginia women's tennis team came out on top.
The No. 69 Cavaliers improved their record to 5-8 overall, 1-2 in the conference, after defeating the 6-11 Virginia Tech Hokies by the score of 5-2.
Due to the rain-shortened indoor practice week, the Hokies proved to be a tough win for Virginia.
"Virginia Tech fought hard," coach Phil Rogers said. "We knew that we would be up for a fight. I was a little concerned that we under practiced. We looked rusty in the doubles. However, as the matches went on, we started to look better."
Virginia Tech jumped to an early 1-0 lead after seizing two of the three doubles matches.
The Hokie tandem of junior Anat Elazari and freshman Jessica Long defeated Virginia freshman Rachel DelPriore and junior Douglas Wink, 8-4. In the other Virginia doubles loss, Hokie freshman Kate Harrington and sophomore Ashley James defeated Virginia juniors Kristen James and Lori Stern, 9-8 (9-7). The lone Virginia doubles win came after freshman Lindsey Pereira and sophomore Caroline Hammond defeated Hokie freshman Bethan James and junior Meredith Holmes, 8-2.
As Rogers described, the doubles matches proved to be the appropriate warm-up for a well-rested Virginia team when singles play began. The Cavaliers won five of six singles matches, yet three of their wins were decided in three sets.
In the No. 1 singles match, Elazari took James deep into the third set. After a 4-5 deficit, James held her ground to return for a 7-6 win in the final set after a 6-1, 4-6 split in the first two sets. Wink, playing in the No. 2 spot, returned from injury to record a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Long. The only Virginia singles loss occurred when Stern fell to A. James 6-4, 7-6. DelPriore bounced back from her doubles loss to defeat B. James 6-0, 6-1. Senior Marta Bechliwanis pulled out another win in three sets after dropping the first set, 6-7, to Harrington.
"I definitely stayed calm after losing my first set," Bechliwanis said. "Last week we played a lot indoors, and a really scrappy team came out outside. I think we all played well and pulled it out."
Her sister, Dora, helped Virginia earn its first conference win after she recorded a straight set win, 6-1, 6-1, over Hokie freshman Julia Facchina. The three-point win over Virginia Tech was a great indication of Virginia's ability to operate under pressure.
"We have had some injuries," Rogers said. "Our number-one player, [Srebrovic], is out. Our number-two player, Wink, has been in and out. We lost our number-four player. I think it was great that the players kept their cool today. There is nothing like a win. We had some tough wins and we enjoyed it."
This weekend will test Virginia's ability to stay calm in the face of adversity as they face two top-ranked ACC opponents. The Cavaliers face No. 6 Georgia Tech and No. 15 Clemson starting this Saturday.
Hopefully for Virginia fans, yesterday's first conference win will prove as a starting point for the young Cavaliers' future wins.
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