With the No. 41 Virginia women’s tennis team tandem of senior Amanda Rales and sophomore Neela Vaez down 6-5 and a break to their counterpart duo from unranked Old Dominion in the team’s home match at the Boyd Tinsley Courts Wednesday night, Rales had had enough. Turning to Vaez, Rales shouted, “Right now, this game!”
That game, indeed, was the turning point for the Cavaliers. Rales and Vaez, playing in the No. 2 doubles slot, snatched the next three games to win their match 8-6. With Virginia’s other two tandems splitting their matches, the comeback clinched the doubles point. From there, Virginia never looked back, pouncing on the Lady Monarchs early on its way to a 6-1 victory.
“Sometimes it takes getting the match to that [late] stage before you really figure out what patterns are working, what the strengths and weaknesses really are,” coach Mark Guilbeau said of the pivotal doubles match. “Even though you’re losing, you may be winning because you’ve got the chess pieces or the moves figured out.”
After the close doubles point, Virginia’s big guns smoked early in singles. All of the Cavaliers’ top three singles players — junior Jennifer Stevens and freshmen Emily Fraser and Lindsey Hardenbergh — went up 3-0 in the first set of their matches. The bottom-slotted players responded in kind, and Virginia clinched the victory with four wins in straight sets; Hardenbergh easily defeated freshman Margarita Spicin 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 2 slot, Vaez downed freshman Irina Dementyeva 6-0, 7-5 and senior Maggie Yahner torched sophomore Marija Citic 6-2, 6-0 to secure the win.
“That was probably the highlight of the match, was the first 15-20 minutes of the singles,” Guilbeau said. “That’s where our kids maybe took the doubles point and kept their energy, and kind of used that momentum, which a lot of teams don’t do.”
As a whole, Virginia won handily; Fraser, however, did not have it easy. After she and Stevens fell to the No. 40 doubles tandem of senior Charleen Haarhoff and sophomore Nadine Fahoum 8-4, Fraser faced the only ranked opponent on Old Dominion’s side in No. 88 Haarhoff. With Guilbeau courtside for much of the match as the six singles matches went on simultaneously, Fraser, the No. 82-ranked singles player, won a tough first set 6-4 and then gathered herself for a convincing 6-2 victory in set two to take the match.
Guilbeau “knows that I kind of like a lot of emotional support when I play,” Fraser said. “He really tries to make an effort to help me during the matches.”
Fahoum was certainly the highlight for Old Dominion’s side, as the unranked singles player rebounded from losing the first set at love to defeat No. 42 Stevens 0-6, 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 1 slot.
Overall, Guilbeau noted the importance of his players having a greater respect for the coaching staff than they have shown to this point.
“We have this program where we want it right now, and I have been a little surprised at times that the kids maybe haven’t shown the greatest level of respect and haven’t listened at a level that I feel like this program deserves,” Guilbeau said. “I’m only gonna tell you we’re maybe 1 percent off, but 1 percent can cost you 80 percent of your season, and that’s what they’ll learn if they don’t get it adjusted completely.”
On the side of good news for Virginia, Guilbeau was able to add freshman Karoline Steiro to the roster after she became academically eligible. Guilbeau noted, however, that Steiro still must be cleared by the NCAA as an amateur before she is allowed to compete, adding that he expects her to be cleared soon.
Freshman Claire Bartlett again did not take part in matches yesterday as she recovers from an infection that was surgically removed — Guilbeau said she will likely miss the next four matches. Yahner, who is still recovering from microfracture surgery she had in the off-season, appeared more mobile last night than she did during the weekend, when she was forced to retire in the first set of her singles match Sunday.
The Cavaliers face a stiffer challenge this weekend as they host No. 25 TCU at the Boyd Tinsley Courts. The Horned Frogs feature the No. 12- and No. 49-ranked singles players in junior Nina Munch-Soegaard and senior Macall Harkins.
This will be the last dual-match event for four weeks for Virginia, as the team travels to the ITA National Indoors Qualifier and competes in the National Team Indoors before resuming the match play schedule.
Read More
Cavaliers collapse, lose 3-2 in walkoff to North Carolina
By Xander Tilock | YesterdayVirginia will head to the loser's bracket Sunday after a disappointing loss to North Carolina.
Gertrude out for season after scooter accident
By Michael Liebermann | YesterdayThe hype around his second season will have to wait.
Tony Bennett’s contract extended to 2030
By Xander Tilock | 2 days agoWith the legendary coach secured in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers can focus on returning to a standard of postseason success.
