The No. 27 Virginia women’s tennis team faced perhaps its toughest series of duals of the season this weekend, facing off against No. 7 Duke Friday before playing No. 1 North Carolina and North Carolina Central Saturday. The Blue Devils were able to halt the streaking Cavaliers’ (10-7, 4-1 ACC) five-match winning streak by a tight 4-3 score, but Virginia quickly rebounded to knock off the nation’s top-ranked squad 4-3 and trample North Carolina Central 6-0 the next day.
The Cavaliers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Duke (16-3, 4-0 ACC) after the powerful combination of freshman Julia Elbaba and senior Hana Tomljanovic clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 victory against Duke’s veteran pairing of junior Hanna Mar and senior Mary Clayton.
Virginia stretched its lead to 2-0 when junior Caryssa Peretz crushed Blue Devil senior Nicole Lipp 6-0, 6-0 at the no. 6 position. Duke quickly rallied, though, winning the next three matches to slingshot into a 3-2 lead. Although No. 15 Elbaba tied the score with a thrilling three-set victory against No. 52 sophomore Ester Goldfield, Duke’s No. 19 Mar edged No. 65 freshman Stephanie Nauta in an 8-6 third-set tie break to seal the Blue Devils’ victory.
Virginia travelled to Chapel Hill the next day to attempt to upset North Carolina (17-2, 3-1 ACC). For the second consecutive day, the Cavaliers swept two of three doubles matches to lurch to a 1-0 advantage.
No. 25 Tar Heel freshman Whitney Kay knotted the score at 1-1 by defeating Virginia junior Li Xi 6-1, 6-1. Virginia wasted no time in regaining regaining the lead, however, as Peretz and Elbaba supplied a two-point cushion with lopsided two-set victories. Ultimately, Virginia senior Erin Vierra’s comeback 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory against freshman Kate Vialle on the fifth court clinched the monumental upset.
Later in the day, Virginia steamrolled North Carolina Central (10-6, 4-1 Mid-Eastern). The dual did not feature a doubles point, and the Eagles failed to field a sixth singles contestant, forfeiting the sixth court to the Cavaliers.
Virginia returns home this weekend to play Wake Forest and NC State.
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