The streaking No. 27 Virginia women’s tennis team will look to continue its stellar play this weekend when it travels to North Carolina to take on two of the nation’s elite tennis programs.
Friday, the Cavaliers will face No. 7 Duke in Durham before traveling to Chapel Hill the following day to attempt to knock off North Carolina, the top-ranked team in the country.
The Cavaliers (8-6, 3-0 ACC) have been riding a hot streak lately, winning their last five matches. Virginia has not lost since March 13, when they fell in a hard-fought 5-2 decision to No. 3 Texas A&M in College Station. Several of the team’s recent wins have come from quality opponents, including Virginia Tech and a tournament victory at the Blue/Gray Classic.
Unfortunately for Virginia, the weather in Charlottesville has not been conducive to its preparation for matches. The snow and low temperatures this past week have forced the team to move practices indoors, which will mean Virginia has to adjust quickly when they resume outdoor competition this weekend. Despite the weather, associate coach Troy Porco expects his team to be ready come Friday.
“The weather has been a bit chilly this week,” Porco said. “But we’ve gotten a good bit done and had some great preparation.”
Virginia is not the only team carrying momentum into this weekend. Duke (11-3, 2-0 ACC) is coming off of two dominating conference victories last weekend, winning 6-1 against Wake Forest and 4-1 against NC State. The Blue Devils are led by junior Hanna Mar, who is ranked No. 19 in the nation in singles. In doubles, Duke is paced by the eighth-ranked duo in the nation, comprised of senior Mary Clayton and sophomore Ester Goldfeld.
North Carolina (16-1, 2-0 ACC) also boasts a handful of elite players, highlighted by senior Gina Suarez-Malaguti, who is ranked No. 9 in the nation in singles. On the doubles side, the Tar Heels brings talented youngsters in the No. 22 freshmen tandem of Ashley Dai and Whitney Kay.
The Cavaliers, however, possess a slew of nationally ranked players themselves, including No. 15 singles standout freshman Julia Elbaba and fellow freshman No. 65 Stephanie Nauta. Although both lack experience, they have been playing at the No. 1 and 2 slots for Virginia all year.
“For those two, it won’t be much different,” Porco said. “They’ve already been playing top players from top programs, so they’ll be fine.”
Virginia will have no time to rest after concluding its match against North Carolina Saturday. Later that same day, the Cavaliers will face North Carolina Central (10-4, 4-1 Mid-Eastern). While the Eagles do not have any individual players ranked in either singles or doubles, their stellar record suggests that they should not be overlooked.
A major area of concern for Virginia is how their doubles play will be affected by the absence of freshman star Maci Epstein, who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury. The loss has forced the team to shuffle its pairs around in an attempt to fill Epstein’s void. While the team was unable to capture the doubles point in its most recent match against Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers believe that they have found the right duos to get the job done for the remainder of the season.
“We’re always looking to get pairs to settle in together, and these pairs that we have together now are doing well overall,” Porco said. “I really like what we have right now.”
In addition to giving the Cavaliers an opportunity to prove its worth against some of the nation’s most elite programs, this weekend’s matchups give Virginia the chance to measure up against the ACC’s top teams. Victories against the Blue Devils and Tar Heels would be a boon to the team’s reputation in the conference and the nation.
First serve Friday is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Durham.
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