The No. 7 Virginia women’s tennis team saw its promising season come to a disappointing end Friday afternoon in a 4-0 loss to No. 10 Tennessee in the NCAA Championship Round of 16. At the Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville, in a rematch of a February meeting at ITA Indoors that Virginia won 4-2, the No. 10 Lady Vols turned the tables with a dominant performance to advance to the quarterfinals.
Virginia (22-6, 10-2 ACC) entered the match short-handed, missing senior standout Elaine Chervinsky, who has been one of the team’s top performers throughout her career. Her absence forced a reshuffling of the Cavaliers' singles and doubles lineups, and Tennessee (20-7, 10-5 SEC) capitalized on the opportunity from the opening serve.
The Lady Vols took control early, securing the doubles point with wins at Lines 1 and 2, including a tightly contested 7-5 victory over senior Melodie Collard and freshman Karolina Kozakova at the top spot. The senior-freshman duo played well but were lacking the clever net play Collard and Chervinsky normally have in order to combat the Lady Vols’ aggression.
In singles, Tennessee maintained its momentum and never allowed Virginia a chance to recover. The Lady Vols opened singles play with a convincing 6-1, 6-0 win at Line 4, followed by a 6-3, 6-0 victory over junior Annabelle Xu at Line 2. Just moments later, the Vols clinched the match when No. 7-ranked senior Elza Tomase defeated graduate student Sara Ziodato 6-1, 6-3 at Line 1.
These singles losses may seem surprising, but Tennessee boasts an exceptionally strong singles lineup, one that pushed Virginia to the brink back in February with several three-set battles. Furthermore, with Chervinsky absent from the top of the lineup and the Lady Vols coming out strong in doubles, the situation set up well for the singles dominance.
“I think that you got to give credit to Tennessee,” Virginia Coach Sara O’Leary said. “They came out ready to go in doubles, and we just didn’t play our best. I think they put us on our heels a little bit, and it was tough for us to just dig our heels in and get back in that match really at any point.”
In addition to Tennessee’s early dominance, Chervinsky’s absence was deeply felt. The senior, who finishes her career with 82 singles and 92 doubles wins, is not only Virginia’s highest-ranked singles player at No. 23 and part of its top-ranked doubles duo, but also a team leader whose presence often sets the tone for matches. Without her, the Cavaliers struggled to generate momentum, and the depth that had carried them throughout the season was stretched thin against a deep and disciplined Tennessee squad.
Despite the loss, the Cavaliers had another standout season under O’Leary, making their fifth consecutive NCAA Round of 16 appearance and finishing with more than 20 wins for the fourth straight year. Virginia reached a program milestone in 2025 by attaining the No. 1 national ranking for the first time and making a run to the ITA Indoor semifinals. For seniors like Chervinsky and Ziodato — who ends her Virginia career with 102 singles wins, tied for seventh in program history — the season caps off a legacy of excellence and growth for the program.
“Right now, it’s just about thinking about our seniors who have given so much to this program,” O’Leary said. “And it’s tough that Elaine has to end her career not being able to be out there because she’s meant so much to this program. So, I feel for our seniors right now, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
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