Donning black T-shirts reading "We Believe," the No. 17 Virginia women's tennis team nearly mounted an incredible comeback against No. 6 Miami Saturday afternoon at the Boar's Head Sports Club, but ultimately fell short of the upset.
The Cavaliers (14-4, 3-2 ACC) began the tilt by surrendering two of the three doubles matches as well as the first two singles matches to the Hurricanes (13-4, 5-1 ACC), who entered the match fresh off a 12-day respite. Despite the early 3-0 deficit, Virginia remained poised and slowly started to crawl its way back into contention.
Caryssa Peretz ignited the rally with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at the No. 5 singles position - a new spot for the freshman, who typically plays at the No. 6 position. No. 71 junior Lindsey Hardenbergh, meanwhile, collected the Cavaliers' next win at the No. 2 position against No. 39 junior Anna Bartenstein in three sets.
Bartenstein had entered the matchup boasting an impressive 7-2 record against ranked opponents before Hardenbergh managed to notch the upset.
"[Hardenbergh] was very good in terms of serving and returning," assistant coach Troy Porco said. "When she's doing that and we're all doing that, it allows you to really get into a good rhythm into your matches."
Following Hardenbergh's dominant third set performance, No. 96 sophomore Hana Tomljanovic put together a hard-fought 6-3 win during the third set on the No. 3 court to knot the score at three apiece.
With the score dead even, the tiebreak opportunity fell in the hands of No. 80 sophomore Erin Vierra, who split the first two sets of her matchup at the No. 4 position with No. 85 Miami freshman Kayla Rizzolo.
Unfortunately for Vierra and the Cavaliers, Rizzolo came out firing in the final set to clinch a 6-4 go-ahead victory for the Hurricanes.
Rizzolo, who was competing in only her third match of the season, used solid ball placement to down Vierra. The sophomore talent has now lost three of her last four outings.
"It was a very physical match throughout," Vierra said. "At the end, I could tell that we were both pretty fatigued. But, it just came down to execution. [Rizzolo] just ended up executing better than I did. I wish I could have that one back."
Despite the disappointing loss Saturday, the Cavaliers rebounded nicely Sunday afternoon in their conference matchup against No. 35 Florida State as they defeated their rival by a 5-2 margin.
The win snapped Virginia's two-game losing skid and marked the first time since the 2008 season that the Cavaliers recorded a victory against the Seminoles.
The resilient Virginia squad swept all three doubles matchups before taking four singles matches in straight sets en route to the team's 14th victory of the 2011 season.
"We haven't beaten Florida State since I've been here, so this [was] a very nice victory," Hardenbergh said. "I think we're really making strides, and we need to bring that intensity every day."
In an attempt to claim a win against the Seminoles, coach Mark Guilbeau and the rest of the Virginia coaching staff decided to tweak the Cavalier lineup - a move that ultimately proved successful.
Hardenbergh moved up to the No. 1 singles position, where she easily cruised to victory against sophomore Francesca Segarelli in straight sets.
Meanwhile, the usual occupant of the No. 1 spot - No. 55 junior Emily Fraser - claimed the Cavaliers' fifth point at the No. 2 spot with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
"We have a lot of even players on this team, so [we were] just shaking it up a little bit," Porco said. "[We were] just trying to go ... with a hot hand. That's the way we went about it today, and it worked out well."
Now the Cavaliers hope to carry the positive momentum earned from a solid week of tennis into their matches against top-five foes Duke and North Carolina. Both contests will take place on the road and have serious implications for conference standings.
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