The Snyder Tennis Courts were the scene of two emotional losses this weekend for the No. 34 Virginia women's tennis team, which fell to No. 1 North Carolina 4-3 and No. 5 Duke 5-2.
The Cavaliers started off well against the Tar Heels, taking two of three doubles matches to grab the opening point. The No. 44-ranked pair of freshman Erin Vierra and sophomore Lindsey Hardenbergh struck first, winning 8-3. The No. 65-ranked pair senior Jennifer Stevens and freshman Hana Tomljanovic followed suit in the No. 1 spot by a score of 8-6 to clinch the point.
With the 1-0 lead, Virginia only needed to split singles play to win the match. Hardenbergh, ranked No. 42 in singles, played at the No. 1 spot and took her match against No. 51 Katrina Tsang 6-1, 6-1. The stage seemed set for the Cavaliers; once Vierra beat her opponent in straight sets, the team only needed one of three matches on Courts 4, 5 and 6 to take the match. With Tomljanovic and freshman Maria Fuccillo taking their first sets, 6-3 and 7-5, respectively, and Stevens battling back from a one-set deficit to take the second 6-3, the Virginia court had momentum.
Whether the Cavaliers struggled with fatigue or sheer lack of experience, however, they sputtered in the day's defining sets and dropped all three remaining matches to lose 4-3. The team's inability to capitalize on various opportunities left its coach to ponder what-if scenarios.
"That would have been a win that you never forget, put us in the top 15 right away and would have been the best win in the history of the program," Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. "I guess the - not really moral victory - but the positive of it is, that only happens if you're good enough, and that's the bottom line: I think our kids are good enough."
The bitter taste of Friday's loss lingered for another day when the Cavaliers lost their second straight match against a top-five opponent.
Virginia's chances against the Blue Devils looked bleak from the outset: It dropped two of three doubles matches, including a devastating loss on court 3, where Fuccillo and sophomore Emily Fraser led 5-1 and had a match-point opportunity but eventually fell 9-7.
The Cavaliers seemed to rebound, though, taking several first sets in singles and staging comebacks in several other matches. Hardenbergh, Vierra and Tomljanovic each played three sets, but only Virginia's top player prevailed. Despite getting blanked in the first set, Vierra staged an impressive comeback to take the second one 7-5 before dropping the final set 6-4. Tomljanovic once again took it down to the wire, winning the first set in a tiebreaker by a score of 7-6 (8). She came out strong after losing the second set to take a 3-0 lead in the deciding set. In the end, however, she lost six of the final seven games, going down 4-6.
At several points against Duke, Virginia was well-positioned to take the match. Similar to play against North Carolina, however, the squad stumbled down the stretch.
"It was a match where we never really got on top," Guilbeau said. "That may have been the biggest difference. [Against North Carolina] we got on top but we didn't finish it. Today, I have a feeling if we could have gotten there we could have done it."
Though the team lost, Guilbeau said he was encouraged by his team's performance and has high hopes for the next pair of ACC matches looming in Raleigh and Winston-Salem this weekend.
"I think we also know that - two days in a row you're playing even or better than maybe two of the best teams in the country - that there should be some good things to come,"
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