After a record-setting season that ended in heartbreak last spring, No. 14 Virginia opened its dual season campaign with three home games against nearby schools. Richmond and UNC Greensboro both came to the Boar’s Head Sports Resort looking to prove themselves against an ACC stalwart, while Coach Sara O’Leary’s squad looked to start the season off with a set of wins and brush off some winter rust.
To no real surprise, the Cavaliers (3-0, 0-0 ACC) won all three matches, beating the Spiders (0-1, 0-0 A10) 7-0 before sweeping the Spartans (0-2, 0-0 SoCon) twice. Through seven doubles matches and 15 singles matches, Virginia lost only one set, comfortably dominating the two visiting sides.
The Cavaliers opened play Tuesday with an evening dual against Richmond, rolling out three of their best doubles pairings to start the season. Senior Meggie Navarro and sophomore Isabelle Lacy — who went 8-2 in fall together — swept their opening match, while senior Annabelle Xu and sophomore Martina Genis Salas, now in their second year as a pairing, won theirs 6-1.
Virginia’s top doubles pairing, fifth-year Melodie Collard and junior Vivian Yang, fell behind early against the Spiders’ top pairing — having to fight back from a 4-1 deficit in their season opener. Off the back of good service, clean net play and powerful baseline shots from Yang, Collard and Yang — the No. 9 ranked pairing in the country — fought their way to a 7-5 win, despite the Cavaliers having already taken the doubles point.
In singles, the gap between Virginia and Richmond became apparent quickly, with Cavaliers winning early breaks on nearly every court. Freshman Kaitlyn Rolls got off to a quick start, blitzing her opponent on Court 5 and taking the first set 6-0. Rolls consistently hit her first serves and moved quickly to balls, completely overwhelming her opponent and taking the match 6-0, 6-3.
The middle of Virginia’s order also had a strong outing. Genis Salas and Lacy, ranked No. 52 and 125 respectively, both had strong falls and started their spring campaigns undefeated. Lacy won her Court 4 match 6-1, 6-3, barely leaving the baseline as she smothered her opponent with powerful groundstrokes. Genis Salas — winning point after point with forehand winners — won her first set 6-0, but was challenged in the second set, ultimately winning that 7-5.
Playing on Court 1, Yang earned a couple of key breaks and won her match 6-4, 6-2. The Pepperdine transfer, ranked No. 30 in Division I, is a strong server and powerful left-handed player that excels in drawn out points, which she showcased against Richmond’s top player.
After not playing all of fall, junior Blanca Pico Navarro returned to action on Court 6, winning 6-2, 6-4. The Spanish third-year had a 7-2 singles record in last year’s dual campaign and should be an important lower-court player for the Cavaliers.
The last to finish on Tuesday, Xu was the only Virginia player to drop a set on the week, losing the first set 6-3 to Spiders senior Lara Bakhaya. Bakhaya was able to keep Xu in a handful of drawn-out points, frustrating Xu and occasionally leading to unforced errors. Xu bounced back with a 6-4 second-set win, and took the tiebreak 10-7 to secure the 7-0 Cavaliers win.
The Cavaliers turned around quickly, playing UNC Greensboro twice on Thursday after a dual against Duquesne was cancelled. Virginia swept both matches — the first 7-0 and the second 4-0. In the first dual, the Cavaliers rolled out the same three doubles pairings, while in the second they had Xu play with Rolls — their second time playing together after a lone win in fall.
The Spartans, both in singles and doubles, had little to offer against Virginia. Rolls won her singles match 6-0, 6-0, with fellow freshman Blair Gill sweeping both of her singles matches as well. The lone freshmen, Rolls and Gill both had strong falls and will look to be contributors on the lower courts through the season.
Continuing her strong play, Yang won her second Court 1 match 6-1, 6-1 — before sitting the second leg of the double-header. Genis Salas won her first match 6-1, 6-0, while Lacy won both of her matches on the day. Collard won her first singles match of the spring 6-0, 6-0, before winning her second by the same margin to clinch the evening Cavaliers win.
Now with a set of comfortable wins over lesser opponents, Virginia will enter the indoor leg of the dual season with some valuable data on itself. As always, doubles play looks to be something in which the Cavaliers will excel, boasting two top-10 pairings and another strong one in Lacy and Navarro. The bottom of the singles lineup will have ample flexibility, with Rolls and Gill both looking like strong options alongside the veterans of Collard and Pico Navarro, while the middle duo of Genis Salas and Lacy will be one to watch as the two sophomores enter their second dual campaigns. Additionally, Yang and Xu both look the part of top singles players, giving O’Leary and her staff two strong options heading into some tougher matches.
Next, the Cavaliers will travel down to Chapel Hill, N.C. for a Monday afternoon dual at No. 3 North Carolina. Virginia won the season series against the Tar Heels (1-0, 0-0 ACC) in 2025, winning their first two meetings, but got swept by their rivals in the ACC Championship game. North Carolina is led by reigning NCAA singles champion senior Reese Brantmeier, also boasting four more top-100 singles players and four top-50 doubles pairings.
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