Virginia women’s tennis traveled to Cary, N.C., last weekend to compete in the week-long ITA All-American Championships, which concluded Sunday and marked the team’s second tournament of the season and an important precursor to the NCAA Individual Championship in November. Six Cavaliers traveled south to compete, and while many made it through qualifying, few were able to make a dent in the main draw against such fierce competition.
Senior Melodie Collard, the No. 91 seed, had an impressive run in the singles qualifying draw, including many upsets. She began by handily beating Clemson sophomore Ria Bhakta in straight sets Monday, then later earning a more difficult victory in a three set match Tuesday against Wichita State sophomore Xin Tong Wang.
The main draw opener Wednesday gave Collard more trouble, as she was defeated by No. 36 seed Grace Piper, a senior from USC, in straight sets in the Round of 64. That sent Collard to the consolation bracket, where she would play in an impressive total of four rounds.
Collard upset Oklahoma State junior and No. 9 seed Anastasiya Komar in straight sets Thursday and then picked up three-set victories over Duke junior Katie Codd, the No. 49 seed, and Pennsylvania senior Sabine Rutlauka, the No. 70 seed. Unfortunately, Collard retired Saturday in the consolation bracket’s Round of 16 after going down a set against senior Kailey Evans of San Diego.
Junior Annabelle Xu also competed in the singles competition as the No. 21 seed, and she came back in three sets in her tournament opener Wednesday after dropping the first set to NC State freshman Gabia Paskauskas. Xu lost her next match Thursday in the Round of 32 to No. 5 seed Ange Oby Kajuru, a senior from Oklahoma State, in three sets.
Xu dropped into the consolation bracket with Collard after the defeat, but she was not as successful as her teammate — she fell to sophomore Sophia Biolay of UCF, the No. 35 seed, in three sets Friday and was eliminated from competition.
Senior Elaine Chervinsky, freshman Martina Genis Salas and sophomore Blanca Pico Navarro each had shorter runs in the singles draw. Chervinsky had a tight win in the first round of qualifying Monday, then fell in the second round Tuesday to San Diego’s Evans in two close sets. Genis Salas had two close sets in the first qualifying round as well but was not able to convert it to a three-set victory. Navarro also lost in the first qualifying round in two sets.
The doubles draw brought additional difficulty for the Cavaliers. Though the experienced seniors, Collard and Chervinsky, were in strong contention for this tournament as the No. 3 seed, they were eliminated Thursday in the Round of 16 by an unranked duo. Junior Meggie Navarro and graduate student Sara Ziodato, the No. 13 seeded team, had similar trouble. They lost their opening match Wednesday to the No. 29 seed and were narrowly defeated in the first round of the consolation bracket.
The ITA All-American serves as the first chance for players to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships, but no Cavaliers performed well enough in the tournament to do so. Nonetheless, Collard and Chervinsky should continue to make solid showings in their upcoming doubles matches, given their experience and performance in the individual season opener.
Notably, the All-American was an incredibly competitive tournament held so early in the season — the competition will be much more regionally focused in the upcoming tournaments, and there will be many more opportunities to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships.
The Wahoowa Invitational is up next for women’s tennis, who will take the court Friday to Sunday at the Boar's Head Resort in Charlottesville.
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