No. 21 Virginia defeated No. 59 Georgia Tech 4-1 Saturday afternoon at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex, in Atlanta Ga. Fielding the same lineup as they had on Thursday against Clemson, the Cavaliers (11-4, 4-0 ACC) lost the doubles point to the Yellow Jackets (7-7, 3-3 ACC), but managed to come back with strong singles performances to remain unbeaten in March and in ACC play.
The Yellow Jackets ultimately got on the board first after doubles wins on Court 2 and 3. At Line 3, Georgia Tech took control early, securing the doubles point with a 6-1 win over the No. 81 duo freshman Kaitlyn Rolls and sophomore Isabelle Lacy.
Virginia responded moments later on Court 1. Junior Vivian Yang and Graduate student Melodie Collard duo, ranked No. 3 nationally, leveled the doubles competition by controlling their match from the start and earned a 6-2 victory. The Cavalier duo maintained momentum with great chemistry and power, putting the Virginia one win away from the doubles point.
On Court 2, No. 27 sophomore Martina Genis Salas and senior Annabelle Xu fell to Georgia Tech’s sophomore Taly Licht and freshman Sabritt Dozier. Xu and Genis Salas, despite fighting hard throughout the match, ultimately lost 6-4, allowing the Yellow Jackets to enter singles play up 1-0.
Despite the early deficit, Virginia responded well in singles, winning four first sets then taking all four completed matches to clinch the team victory.
After returning to the lineup in Friday's victory at No. 18 Clemson, No. 96 Genis Salas secured an incredibly smooth 6-4, 6-1 victory on Court 5. Salas controlled the match from the beginning as her ability to dictate play proved too much. The Spanish second-year went on to finish the match with a win and tied the overall match score at 1-1.
On Court 4, Rolls secured her dominant first set 6-2 early with her strengths in speed and agility, but dropped a competitive second set 6-3 to be forced to play a third. Rolls secured a crucial break late in an intense final set, closing out the match 6-4 to give Virginia its first lead of the afternoon.
On Court 1, No. 70 Yang captured the first set 6-4 after a series of tightly contested service games. Her opponent, No. 58 senior Alejandra Cruz, responded in the second set and leveled the match with a 6-3 win. Yang went on to dominate from the baseline in the decisive third set, closing the match with a clean 6-0 win and adding a tally to Virginia’s overall score to make 3-1.
The clinching point came on Court 6. Collard, who clinched the win against the Tigers (14-4, 4-2 ACC) as well, lost a competitive opening set 7-5, but responded with a strong second set to win 6-2 and force a third. Collard ultimately gained the decisive break and maintained her composure to close out the match 6-4 and secured the fourth point for Virginia. This would end Saturday’s afternoon match early with the overall score 4-1.
Courts 2 and 3 went unfinished. On Court 2, No. 25 Xu fought two tightly contested sets, winning the first 7-5 and losing the second by the same margin. At the time of competition, she was up 2-1 in the third. On Court 3, No. 82 Lacy had rebounded after losing the first set 6-4, taking the second set 7-5. She was leading 2-0 in the third when the dual was wrapped up.
With the win, Virginia remains undefeated in ACC play. The Cavaliers will be busy next week as they will travel down to the Sunshine State to take on Florida State (4-9, 0-4 ACC) on Friday, and No. 29 Miami (8-2, 4-0 ACC) Sunday. Virginia will aim to build on its strong singles showing as conference play continues through March and April.
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