The No. 7 seed Virginia women’s tennis team dominated over the weekend at its home NCAA Championship regional, putting up two decisive wins to advance to the Round of 16. As the top seed, the Cavaliers took full advantage of home-court play at the Virginia Tennis Facility, sweeping Fairleigh Dickinson 4-0 Friday before taking Illinois 4-1 in a more tightly contested match Saturday. With a combination of veteran leadership and impactful performances from underclassmen, Virginia proved ready for the rest of the tournament.
In Friday’s first-round match, the Cavaliers (22-5, 10-2 ACC) faced the Knights (11-8, 6-0 NEC) for the fourth time in tournament history, having blanked the Knights in each of their previous meetings. Virginia wasted no time setting the tone, storming through doubles without dropping a game.
Graduate student Sara Ziodato and junior Meggie Navarro struck first with a perfectly executed 6-0 win at Line 3. Moments later, seniors and top-ranked duo Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard matched that result at Line 1, sealing the doubles point and putting Virginia ahead 1-0.
The Cavaliers carried that momentum into singles, where they quickly took control across all courts. Junior Annabelle Xu, ranked No. 34 in the country, cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win at Line 2. Freshman Martina Genis Salas followed suit with an equally dominant 6-1, 6-0 win at Line 3, extending her win streak to seven in completed matches.
Ziodato completed the sweep with a commanding 6-1, 6-0 victory at the top of the lineup. The bottom three singles matches went unfinished, though Virginia was in control across all of them, including a strong return from freshman Karolina Kozakova, who led 6-0, 4-1 in her first appearance since February.
Saturday’s second-round match against Illinois (15-13, 8-5 Big Ten) presented a different kind of challenge, with gusty winds and threatening weather adding an unpredictable layer to the high-stakes clash.
The Cavaliers once again took the doubles point, a crucial early boost in a match that grew tighter as the day wore on. Ziodato and Navarro picked up where they left off, winning 6-2 at Line 3, and Genis Salas and Xu clinched the point with a 6-3 win at Line 2.
Intensity rose as the match moved indoors due to weather during the early stages of the singles sets. Kozakova gave the Cavaliers a huge lift by continuing her strong return to form, defeating freshman Ariel Madatali 6-0, 6-3 at Line 5 to give Virginia a 2-0 lead. Genis Salas, steady as ever, extended the advantage with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kida Ferrari at Line 4, marking her eighth consecutive singles win.
Illinois clawed back at Line 2, where senior Megan Heuser handed No. 23 Chervinsky a rare straight-sets loss, cutting the deficit to 3-1. But the Cavaliers showed their depth and skill under pressure. At Line 6, sophomore Blanca Pico Navarro edged out her opponent in a tight first set before pulling away late in the second, winning 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the match for Virginia. Other matches, including a tight Line 1 battle between Ziodato and junior McKenna Schaefbauer, were left unfinished.
With the wins, Virginia improved to 22-5 and earned its fifth straight NCAA Round of 16 appearance. The Cavaliers will host No. 10 seed Tennessee Friday at 4 p.m. in a rematch of their February ITA Indoors meeting, which they won 4-2. Virginia leads the all-time series 8-7 and has won five straight, entering the matchup with experience, confidence and home-court momentum.
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