Scoring Virginia’s first points of 2026 in the Commonwealth Clash, the No. 16-ranked women’s tennis opened conference play in Blacksburg with a dominant 7-0 win over Virginia Tech. Extending their winning streak over their in-state rival to 30 straight, the Cavaliers (8-4, 1-0 ACC) only dropped a single set to the Hokies (3-3, 0-1 ACC), extending the University’s lead in the Clash to four, the score currently 6.5-2.5.
It did not take long for Virginia to establish control of the dual. Less than half an hour into the match, the No. 21-ranked pairing of senior Annabelle Xu and sophomore Martina Genis Salas blew by their opponents for a 6-1 win on Line 2. Some minutes later, sophomore Isabelle Lacy and freshman Katie Rolls logged a 6-3 win on Line 3, securing the doubles point for the Cavaliers.
Though inconsequential to the score of the dual, the two teams opted to finish play on Court 1, where Virginia Tech’s top pairing of graduate student Arina Gamretkaia and senior Özlem Uslu upset No. 4 graduate student Melodie Collard and junior Vivian Yang, winning the Hokies’ lone set of the day with a 6-4 victory.
Up 1-0, Virginia quickly got off to a strong start in singles. Playing her third singles match of the entire season, junior Blanca Pico Navarro — a late addition to the lineup on Court 6 — was the first to wrap up, taking home a decisive 6-1, 6-1 win. Dominating points with power and pressure from the baseline, Pico Navarro overwhelmed her opponent, never affording them the opportunity to work their way back into a set.
Not long after, No. 108 Rolls extended the lead on Court 4. Forcing mistakes with fast, flat groundstrokes and serves, Rolls took early leads in both sets, winning 6-3, 6-1 and making the dual a 3-0 affair.
The Cavaliers clinched the dual not long afterwards, as their leading points scorer in singles, No. 69 Lacy, won her eighth singles match of the spring on Court 3. Building points well off her backhand, Lacy took the first set 6-4, then followed it with a comfortable 6-2 win.
Though the dual had already been won by Virginia, the two rivals opted to carry on playing on the three remaining singles courts. Before any of those courts could wrap up though, the match was moved indoors. Courts 1, 2 and 5 were all still in play, with the Cavaliers having taken the first set in all of them.
On Court 1, a battle between No. 34 Yang and Uslu had led to a nailbiting first set for Virginia. Uslu, placing her groundstrokes with pinpoint accuracy, had built a 5-0 lead in the first, forcing errors from Yang and building a comfortable lead. Yang, however, was able to flip the script and win six straight before an Uslu hold forced a tiebreak. Fighting for every point, Yang won the tiebreak 7-2 before taking the second set by a more comfortable 6-2.
No. 26 Xu made it 6-0 for the Cavaliers, playing fast off of the baseline on Court 2 for a 6-3, 7-5 win. Collard finalized the dual on Court 5, winning the first set 6-4 then doing just enough in the second set to reach a tiebreak and win it 7-4.
Now 45-5 all time against its in-state rival, Virginia opened conference play with a clean win over a lesser opponent. With No. 75 Genis Salas not playing singles, the Cavaliers had to slightly adjust their lineup — moving Lacy to Court 3, Rolls to Court 4 and adding Pico Navarro on 6. Lacy and Rolls both extended their impressive springs by extending their singles records to 8-1 and 7-3 respectively, while Pico Navarro’s rapid win on Court 6 was her first against a power conference opponent since May 2025.
Next, Virginia will return to Charlottesville for its ACC home opener against SMU at noon on Sunday. The Mustangs (6-1, 0-0 ACC) open their own conference slate against the Hokies Friday, and are a strong team with wins over Arizona and Baylor, fielding one ranked singles player and a ranked pairing.
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