Virginia women’s tennis faced one of its toughest tests of the fall at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C. Over nine days of competition, the Cavaliers experienced everything from early exits to consolation runs while competing across singles and doubles draws.
Virginia had three players compete in the singles main draw at the Cary Tennis Center — second-year Katie Rolls, fourth-year Vivian Yang and second-year Eugenia Zozaya.
Katie Rolls was the only Cavalier to advance beyond the opening round. She defeated Florida sophomore Brooke Black 6-4, 6-4 to earn a place in the Round of 32. But her main-draw run ended there against Duke freshman Aspen Schuman, who defeated Rolls 6-4, 6-4.
Rolls then moved into the consolation bracket. Her tournament came to an end against Texas A&M senior Kristina Paskauskas. Rolls lost the first set 6-1 before retiring while trailing 3-0 in the second.
Fourth-year Vivian Yang faced a close opening match against NC State sophomore Lavinia Tanasie. Tanasie sent the Cavalier into consolation play after she defeated Yang 7-5, 7-5 after back-to-back competitive sets.
Despite the early exit, Yang’s campaign was far from over. The Cavalier responded with Virginia’s deepest singles run of the tournament.
She began the consolation bracket with a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory over Stanford sophomore Tianmei Wang. Yang followed with another straight-set victory against Mississippi State junior Gianna Oboniye, 6-2, 7-6 (1).
Her third consolation match provided a tougher challenge. Yang took the opening set against TCU senior Raquel Caballero Chica 6-3 before dropping the second set 0-6. She recovered in the third and closed out the match 6-4 to earn her third consecutive victory.
Yang’s run ended in the consolation Round of 16 against South Carolina senior Kaitly Carnicella. Yang won the opening set 4-6 before falling short in the next two sets 6-0, 6-2.
Second-year Eugenia Zozaya also faced a difficult opening-round opponent. She met North Carolina senior Tatum Evans in the Round of 64 main draw and lost her first set 6-3. Zozaya bounced back and managed to secure a win 5-7 in the second set, pushing the match to three sets. Zozaya unfortunately fell short 6-1 and was sent to the consolation bracket.
Zozaya responded with a win in consolation play. She defeated Georgia sophomore Patricija Paukstyte 6-4, 6-4 before facing North Carolina freshman Alexis Nguyen. Zozaya forced a third set but fell 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Virginia also had two teams compete in the doubles main draw.
Second-year Zozaya and first-year Shannon Lam competed in the doubles main draw against Washington senior duo Alexia Jacobs and Marie Weissheim. The Cavaliers fell short 6-4, 6-1 in the opening round.
Their tournament ended in their first consolation match. Ohio State senior Audrey Spencer and junior Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev defeated Zozaya and Lam 7-6 (4), 6-4 before eventually meeting Rolls and Genis Salas in the final.
Second-year Katie Rolls and third-year Martina Genis Salas entered as the No. 33-ranked doubles team and faced a difficult opening matchup against Ohio State No. 3 ranked senior Luciana Perry and sophomore Flora Johnson.
The Cavalier duo started off strong with a 6-2 opening-set victory. Ohio State responded by taking the second set 6-2. The match came down to an intense 10-point tiebreaker where Perry and Johnson escaped with a 12-10 victory.
The narrow loss sent Rolls and Genis Salas into the consolation bracket. From there, the pair put together Virginia’s strongest run of the tournament.
The doubles duo opened with a 6-1, 7-6 (8) victory over Maryland No. 66 junior duo Oliwia Orlinska and Ema Kovacevic. The next round proved much closer.
Rolls and Genis Salas dropped the first set 6-7 (5) against Vanderbilt No. 29 duo of junior Sophia Webster and senior Valeria Ray in a tiebreaker. They responded by taking the second set 7-6 (1) in another tiebreaker. After another entertaining set, the Cavalier duo secured the win in the deciding 10-point tiebreaker, 10-8. The performance sent Virginia into the consolation semifinals.
The Cavalier duo left little doubt in their next match. Rolls and Genis Salas defeated North Carolina senior Theadora Rabman and freshman Aya Manning 6-0, 6-3 to advance to Sunday’s final.
There, Rolls and Genis Salas won the first set 6-4 before dropping the second 6-4 against Ohio State. Once again, the match came down to a deciding tiebreaker. The Cavaliers took control and won 10-4 to capture the consolation doubles title.
The victory earned an invitation to the NCAA Doubles Championship in Athens, Ga., which will run Nov. 17-23.
Four of its five singles and doubles entries lost their opening matches, but the Cavaliers repeatedly responded in consolation play.
The Cavaliers will have more opportunities to qualify players for the NCAA Individual Championships later this fall. The ITA Regional Championships are scheduled for Oct. 15-20. The ITA Masters and ITA Sectionals will take place Nov. 5-8.
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