After defeating No. 28 Illinois on the road last weekend, the No. 25 Virginia women's tennis team will attempt to continue its winning ways at home this Saturday. The Cavaliers (4-0, 0-0 ACC) will square off against No. 55 Marshall and No. 66 Winthrop at the Boar's Head Sports Club as they try to keep their undefeated record intact.
Perhaps the most challenging part of Virginia's trip to Illinois this past Sunday was finding a flight home. The team was forced to wait out a snowstorm in the area as its flight was canceled twice. The delays altered the team's practice schedule early in the week, but the road-weary Cavaliers eventually returned to their usual routine.
"We were all pretty exhausted by the end of it, but we were all really happy to get home," junior Emily Fraser said. "It was fun; actually, the first time the flight got canceled, but the second time it was a little stressful."
Although Virginia already has passed what will likely be its toughest non-conference test by beating then-No. 28 Illinois, 5-2, the team would like to avoid a slip-up against Marshall and Winthrop Saturday. The early match of the doubleheader likely will prove the more challenging of the two as the Cavaliers play a Marshall squad (7-1) that has already toppled an ACC opponent this season with its 4-3 triumph against Virginia Tech last week.
"Marshall is one of the better-coached teams in the country," Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. "We've had some head-to-head individual battles that mean a lot for our region."
No. 27-ranked Marshall senior Michaela Kissell is the highest-ranked individual on any of the three teams that will play Saturday. Kissell is expected to face Fraser at the No. 1 singles position.
Fraser and Kissell could meet again at No. 1 doubles. Fraser and sophomore Hana Tomljanovic suffered their first doubles loss against Illinois, and they are eager to return to the win column against the Marshall tandem of Kissell and sophomore Dominika Zaprazna, which is 8-0 this season.
"No matter what happens, we're gonna come out strong in our first match," Fraser said. "Hopefully we'll get through [Marshall] and then refresh and get ready for the next one."
The latter match against Winthrop will provide an indication of Virginia's depth and conditioning prior to the ITA National Team Indoors meet at the Boar's Head Sports Club next weekend.
Guilbeau could choose to rest some of his regulars against the Eagles while giving other players invaluable match experience. The Cavaliers have an abundance of young players ready to show off their talents against live competition.
"Winthrop is an up-and-coming team," Guilbeau said. "Any time you play two opponents in one day, first thing's first. You gotta play one at a time."
When the Cavaliers hosted Brown and Richmond for a doubleheader three weeks ago, freshmen Rashmi Teltumbde and Marjorie Baker were inserted into the Virginia singles lineup for the second match against Richmond. Both players rewarded their coach's confidence with straight-set victories.
Regardless of potential lineup changes, some players still may be asked to play three or even four matches. Maintaining a high level of play throughout will be an added challenge when the team takes on Winthrop. Although the Eagles have no ranked singles players, junior Sandra Herrera and sophomore Giovanna Portioli are the No. 87-ranked doubles duo, and the team certainly is accustomed to playing against high-caliber ACC teams. Winthrop already has faced North Carolina, Wake Forest and Clemson - albeit going 0-3 in those matches.
"Hopefully, everyone will get an opportunity to get out there and play," Guilbeau said. "We have a big team so I'm trying to get everyone some matches."
The Marshall match will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Boar's Head Sports Club, and the Winthrop match will follow at 4 p.m.
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