For only the second time in program history, Virginia women’s tennis are ACC Regular Season co-champions thanks to a pair of back-to-back home victories this weekend against No. 19 Miami and No. 23 Florida State. The Cavaliers (20-3, 12-1 ACC) bested the Hurricanes (10-6, 8-4 ACC) in a dominant 6-1 victory that was played despite windy conditions and a rain delay. They then took on the Seminoles (15-7, 9-4 ACC) Sunday, closing out the regular season on a victorious 4-2 high note. Virginia will share the regular season title with No. 4 North Carolina, as both teams are 12-1 in conference play.
Friday — Virginia 6, Miami 1
The Cavaliers came out strong during Friday’s match against the Hurricanes, sweeping doubles competition. On court one, No. 16 juniors Mélodie Collard and Elaine Chervinsky defeated No. 29 senior Isabella Pfennig and sophomore Xinyi Nong 6-0. No. 39 graduate student Natasha Subhash and senior Hibah Shaikh followed suit on court two, besting No. 67 seniors Leonie Schuknecht and Antonia Balzert 6-2.
Virginia continued its dominant performance into singles play, with Subhash defeating Schuknecht 6-0, 6-0 in straight unanswered sets. On court six, Collard bested Nong 6-0, 6-2, and the Cavaliers kept up their blistering pace, when No. 76 Ziodato defeated Balzert 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the match.
With the match already lost, Miami did find some life on court five, where No. 112 senior Audrey Boch-Collins beat Chervinsky 6-1, 6-3. However, unfortunately for the Hurricanes, that was their only bright spot in a day that was all Virginia. No. 25 Shaikh beat No. 62 Pfennig on court two 6-0, 4-6, 10-6.
Although victory was already secured, the highlight of the day for Virginia had yet to come. On court one, No. 95 sophomore Annabelle Xu defeated No. 9 junior Alexa Noel in a 6-2, 0-6, 10-7 battle. The win was the highest-ranked victory of Xu’s career and her second against a top-20 player. It was also the fourth time this season that a Cavalier has defeated a top-10 player.
Sunday — Virginia 4, Florida State 2
To close out the regular season, Virginia hosted Florida State Sunday in a Senior Day match that honored Shaikh, Subhash and Ziodato. In honor of their graduating players, Virginia claimed victory and closed out the regular season undefeated at home.
Subhash and Shaikh opened play on court two, winning 6-3 over seniors Ellie Schoppe and Anna Arkadianou. Chervinsky and Collard clinched the doubles point on court one, besting No. 30 graduate student Vic Allen and sophomore Millie Bissett 7-5.
Collard opened up singles play for Virginia, beating sophomore Cade Cricchio in a straight-set 6-2, 6-0 victory. However, immediately after, the Seminoles pulled even with the Cavaliers by winning two back-to-back matches. No. 41 Schoppe beat Shaikh on court two 6-0, 7-6 (3), and Ziodato was beaten 6-3, 6-3 against No. 124 Arkadianou.
Chervinsky swung the momentum back to Virginia on court five, defeating freshman Maelie Monfils 7-5, 6-4. The match was very competitive, with nearly every game decided by a deuce point. Subhash also faced a competitive match against Bissett but pulled it out 6-4, 6-4 to clinch the victory for Virginia.
The weekend’s victories ended what has been a very strong regular season on a high note and cemented an undefeated home record. The Cavaliers have defeated every single ACC opponent at some point this season, giving a promising tournament prognosis. Their only conference loss came against North Carolina April 5, but they defeated the Tar Heels in February at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Hopefully, Virginia can carry their season-long success through to the ACC Tournament finals, where they may once again be faced with a North Carolina showdown.
The Cavaliers will be the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament due to a tied regular-season conference record with North Carolina. They will open play in the quarterfinals against either 7-seed Notre Dame or 10-seed Syracuse Friday.
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