No. 7 Virginia women’s tennis (5-0, 0-0 ACC) defeated William & Mary (2-1, 0-0 CAA) 7-0 Sunday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville. Virginia was coming off a pair of victories at ITA Kickoff Weekend, moving up in rank from No. 8 to now No. 7.
The Tribe earned two wins against in-state competition, defeating George Washington and Norfolk State Saturday. Their luck did not carry into a Sunday matchup against stronger competition in the Cavaliers. William & Mary sophomore Hedda Gurholt had impressed in the former victories, but no singles competitor on the Tribe overcame their Virginia contender.
The Cavaliers won the doubles point, scoring 6-0 and 6-1 on the top two courts. A duo of graduate student Julia Adams and sophomore Melodie Collard earned the perfect sweep, while senior Natasha Subhash and freshman Annabelle Xu yielded the single score. The third doubles match was unfinished, though junior Sara Ziodato and freshman Meggie Navarro were down 2-3 when doubles were called.
The Cavaliers then achieved six straight-set victories in the singles matches, winning all of the second sets by 6-1 scores, including Adams triumphing over Gurholt in authoritative fashion. Sophomore Nicole Keifer won the final match on court six, closing it out with a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Junior Hibah Shaikh yielded just three games, winning 6-2, 6-1.
In total, there are currently six Cavaliers nationally ranked in singles — led by Adams at No. 34 and sophomore Elaine Chervinsky at No. 50. Following them are Xu, Shaikh, Subhash and Collard.
Chervinsky and Subhash are ranked No. 3 in doubles. They finished as semi-finalists at the ITA Fall National Championships and ITA All-American in the fall. Subhash has shined all season and will be a player to watch as the season progresses due to her experience and fortitude on the court. New singles and doubles rankings will be released Wednesday.
The Cavaliers are ready to compete at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held Friday to Monday in Seattle, Wash. There will be 16 teams total competing from across the nation, and all of the teams are ranked.
The ITA National Team Indoor Championships will include strong conference opponents in No. 4 Duke and No. 2 North Carolina as well as top seeds from across the nation. Should Virginia run into either the Tar Heels or the Blue Devils at the ITA’s, it will serve as a preview for its next two matches. The Cavaliers will host North Carolina Feb. 24 before facing Duke Feb. 26. After cruising through its first five matches, Virginia will begin to see how they match up against top talent starting this weekend.
The ITA National Team Indoor Championships match times and tournament draws will be announced later in the week.
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