Preseason No. 6 Virginia women’s tennis began its dual-match season with a dominant performance Sunday, posting a 6-1 victory against in-state opponent Virginia Commonwealth. Playing at home on the Boar's Head Sports Club indoor courts, Virginia recorded its first point on three successive 6-1 doubles victories and never looked back.
The No. 22 partnership of juniors Julia Elbaba and Stephanie Nauta dropped the first game of their doubles matchup with junior Salome Kvitashvili and sophomore Olga Barscheuskaya but bounced back by taking the next six games for Virginia’s first doubles victory.
The newly minted No. 11 pairing of freshman Cassie Mercer and UCLA-transfer junior Skylar Morton then ensured Virginia’s first point of the day with an identical scoreline. Sophomore Marie Faure and junior Maci Epstein followed suit on court three, cementing the perfect 6-1 sweep.
Though both are new to a program returning five starters from its 2014 ACC Championship team, the Mercer-Morton pairing is poised to make a meaningful impact on Virginia’s success this year. Coach Mark Guilbeau was particularly pleased with their rapid cohesion.
“To be honest, that wasn’t an expected pairing right at the beginning,” Guilbeau said. “We always have some adjusting as we go, but they took control of that match right from the beginning. They’ve done a great job throughout the fall of valuing every single match.”
Morton was equally enthusiastic about her positive early results with Mercer.
“We haven’t played a match since the fall,” Morton said. “It was really good that we did well coming back into [the spring season]. We didn’t even practice [together] a lot, so it was really good.”
The reigning USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate singles champion, No. 1 Elbaba made quick work of VCU’s Kvitashvili to notch Virginia’s first singles point of the day, riding a strong overall performance to a 6-0, 6-1 victory. Mercer followed with a 6-3, 6-2 victory on court five before her doubles partner, Morton, clinched the Cavalier win in cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 win on court three.
Faure rounded out the Cavaliers’ straight-set match wins with a comfortable 6-2, 6-4 performance on court six.
Morton credited the encouraging environment of the Boar’s Head for the team’s strong start.
“We just like coming out here,” Morton said. “It’s a good atmosphere — we’ve got a lot of fans and support — so it’s easy to come out and be strong in doubles and singles.”
Speaking about Morton’s singles performance, Guilbeau was quick to praise something other than the home crowd.
“[I was] very happy to put her at the three-spot — she held her own and I knew she could do it,” Guilbeau said. “[I was] really impressed over the last 10 days with her focus in practice, day in and day out, and I think that’s making it very realistic for her.”
VCU’s only point of the day materialized after Rams junior Cindy Chala took No. 16 Nauta — who posted a team-best 15-4 fall record — to three sets on court two. After losing the first set 6-3, Nauta won a hotly contested second set 4-6 before falling 10-6 in the third-set tiebreak.
Guilbeau was impressed with Chala’s response to Nauta’s comeback attempt.
“She’s been out of their lineup for a little while, so for her to come back after such a long period is really impressive,” Guilbeau said. “Steph tried to do the right things, but Chala didn’t let that happen.”
While Nauta fell short in her third set, Epstein prevailed, ending Virginia’s day with a spirited 6-7 (1-7), 7-5, 6-0 display on court four. Guilbeau said his approach during Epstein’s comeback was much less strategic.
“To be honest [Epstein’s] court was really about resiliency, almost kind of simplifying,” Guilbeau said. “If we can get Maci using her weapons, specifically with more attention to strengths and weaknesses, I think she’s going to get that much better.”
Looking to improve upon the team’s previous season — which saw the Cavaliers advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals — Morton was encouraged by Virginia’s performance.
“Some people had some tough matches— it was a great start,” Morton said. “I think we came out with some great energy and I think we can build from here.”
Virginia now sets its sights on another non-conference tune-up. The Cavaliers face Utah this Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Boar’s Head.
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