The Virginia men’s and women’s tennis teams remain in pursuit of ITA All-American Championships titles as they enter deeper into their respective tournaments.
Freshman Julia Elbaba scored arguably the biggest upset of the women’s tournament in Los Angeles Thursday with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph against Texas A&M senior Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, the No. 1 seed. Elbaba has now downed four ranked players en route to the round of 16, where she will face Florida freshman Danielle Collins. Elbaba is the only Cavalier left in the women’s singles or doubles fields.
The men completed their qualification stage in Tulsa, Okla. Wednesday and added to their list of players competing in the main draw. In singles, freshman Mac Styslinger joined his automatic-qualifying teammates, senior Jarmere Jenkins and junior Alex Domijan. Domijan and freshman Harrison Richmond teamed to earn a spot in the main doubles draw along with the already secured pairing of Jenkins and Styslinger.
Styslinger and No. 6-seeded Alex Domijan each won two singles matches in straight sets Thursday. Jenkins, seeded No. 2, advanced one round but faced Styslinger in the second, falling 6-1, 6-4. Domijan will encounter Utah freshman Slim Hamza in the round of 16 Friday and could see top-seed Henrique Cunha, a senior from Duke, next. Styslinger will face Tennessee sophomore Mikelis Libietis.
In doubles, Styslinger and Jenkins joined forces to advance through their first round match, and Domijan and Richmond did the same.
On the home front, some of the Cavalier men who are already eliminated will take part in the 11th annual U.Va. Fall Invitational this weekend to cap a busy week for the Virginia tennis programs.