The Cavaliers were not able to pull off the upset against the top ranked Tar Heels — however, stellar singles performances from freshman Emma Navarro and sophomore Natasha Subhash against top-10 ranked opponents left Virginia (4-2, 0-1 ACC) with some momentum moving forward.
In a tightly contested doubles round, North Carolina (10-0, 1-0 ACC) pulled ahead early, with senior Makenna Jones and sophomore Elizabeth Scotty defeating junior Sofia Munera and Subhash 6-2, before senior Vivian Glozman and junior Amber O’Dell pulled Virginia even with a 6-4 win. However, with the doubles point on the line, freshman Emma Navarro and senior Rosie Johanson fell 6-4 to senior Sara Daavettila and junior Cameron Morra, despite a valiant effort.
North Carolina quickly picked up three victories in the singles round, securing the victory and proving their number one ranking.
However, despite being unable to route a win, Virginia did not let up as the final two matches were carried out, with No. 80 Navarro and No. 11 Subhash battling against No. 3 senior Alexa Graham and No. 6 Morra.
Both matches were thrillers, coming down to super tiebreakers — and, in both cases, the Cavaliers came out victors as Navarro picked up a 5-7, 6-3 and 10-7 win and Subhash a 6-3, 2-6 and 10-6 victory.
“We had a tough match today with the University of North Carolina, who’s the number one team in the country, and they’re number one for a reason,” Coach Sara O’Leary said. “They played well. I thought that we fought really well especially at the number one in two positions who got wins over top-10 opponents and just hung in there and played really well in those spots … A lot of respect to UNC. This is an opportunity for us to learn and grow from this match.”
Next week, Virginia hopes to pick up its first ACC wins as the team faces off against Boston College Feb. 26 and Syracuse Feb. 28.
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