The No. 5 Virginia women’s tennis team concluded a strong weekend with a 4-1 victory Sunday over No. 33 Notre Dame at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers (15-4, 7-2 ACC) fought back after dropping the doubles point, securing four straight-sets wins in singles to extend their winning streak to three matches and claim their 12th consecutive victory over the Irish (15-4, 5-3 ACC).
Virginia started the match strong in doubles, with the nation’s top-ranked duo of seniors Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard battling to a 5-5 standstill against Notre Dame on Line 1.
However, the Cavaliers were unable to secure the point, as the Irish claimed wins at Lines 2 and 3. The Irish struck first at No. 2 doubles, where junior Rylie Hanford and senior Nibi Ghosh delivered a decisive 6-1 win over Virginia’s No. 28-ranked pair of freshman Martina Genis Salas and junior Annabelle Xu.
Notre Dame freshman Bianca Molnar and junior Bojana Pozder clinched the doubles point at Line 3 with a 6-3 win over graduate student Sara Ziodato and freshman Karolina Kozakova, giving the Irish an early 1-0 lead. Molnar and Pozder were more aggressive than Ziodato and Kozakova off the bat, making it difficult for the Virginia duo to come back in just one set.
Despite the setback, Virginia quickly took control in singles play. Ziodato set the tone for the Cavaliers with a commanding 6-1, 6-2 victory at Line 1, evening the match at 1-1. She delivered her groundstroke play perfectly, choosing to be aggressive when necessary.
Genis Salas followed with a composed performance at Line 6, defeating senior Carrie Beckman 6-3, 6-4 to give Virginia the lead.
Chervinsky, the highest-ranked Cavalier at No. 18, extended the advantage with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Pozder at Line 3. This win, secured with Chervinsky’s baseline and service power, strengthened her record to 8-1 in dual matches.
With Virginia up 3-1, Collard delivered the clinching win in a hard-fought battle at Line 5. After dropping the first set 6-4 to Hanford, Collard bounced back to take the second set 6-3 and carried that momentum into the third, where she secured the victory in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 result.
Collard was incredibly consistent, varying her play with slices and volleys to make her opponent uncomfortable. When it came down to the final set, Collard’s effort and shot variety could not be beat.
Two other matches remained unfinished, with No. 28 Xu and freshman Isabelle Lacy stuck in third sets at Lines 2 and 4, respectively.
This victory over the Irish improved Virginia’s ACC record to 7-2 and marked the fourth time this season that the Cavaliers have won despite losing the doubles point. With the win, Virginia maintained its strong position in the conference and continued its dominance over Notre Dame in the all-time series.
The Cavaliers will head on the road for a pair of matches next weekend, facing Boston College at 3 p.m. Friday and Syracuse at 11 a.m. Sunday.
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