The Virginia women’s tennis team made the most of its lone home fall tournament, dominating the Wahoowa Invitational over three days at the Boar’s Head Resort. The Cavaliers went 19-2 in singles and a perfect 8-0 in doubles against opponents from James Madison, West Virginia and Marshall, using the tournament as an opportunity to sharpen their game heading into the ITA Atlantic Regional later this month.
Leading the way was second-year transfer student from Southern California, Eugenia Zozaya, who finished with a perfect 5-0 singles record and a 2-0 doubles record across the three days. Zozaya was relentless throughout, dropping no sets over the course of her five singles matches and dispatching opponents from all three schools with her aggressive baseline game. She drove through her forehand with both pace and precision, consistently denying opponents time to reset.
Zozaya opened Friday with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Dukes third-year Corinna Rietmann, then added a 6-1, 6-4 win over Thundering Herd sophomore Polina Gumeniuk later that evening. On Saturday, she rolled past Mountaineer freshman Sorana Matis 6-0, 6-1, barely giving her opponent a foothold in either set. Zozaya closed out the tournament Sunday with back to back wins over James Madison second-year Brooklyn Hoffman 6-3, 6-1 and Marshall’s Alina Mokrynska 6-2, 6-0, finishing the weekend without being ever pushed to a third set.
The rest of the Cavaliers showed the depth of the program across all three days. Fourth-year Vivian Yang went 4-0 in singles, winning all four of her matches in straight sets and controlling each one from the baseline with clean and efficient groundstrokes. She opened with a 6-2, 6-1 win over West Virginia first-year Sierra Vagi on Friday and a 6-1, 6-4 win over West Virginia junior Rio Maeda. To close out her weekend, she captured two bagels, one in her 6-1, 6-0 match against James Madison first-year Ariel Avidan and another in her 6-4, 6-0 match against Gumeniuk. Yang also paired with first-year Alyssa James in doubles, going a perfect 3-0 across the weekend and winning each of their three matches convincingly.
Fourth-year Blanca Pico Navarro had a strong weekend as well, going 3-0 in singles. She opened Friday with a 4-6, 6-1, 10-3 win over Dukes first-year Myra Shaikh in a match that required her to fight back after dropping the first set. Pico Navarro clearly adjusted between sets, committing to her groundstrokes more and ran through the second set with more controlled and decisive tennis. She followed that with a win against Mountaineer sophomore Lucia Tognoni 6-7 (3), 3-1 via retirement on Saturday. Zozaya then closed her weekend Sunday with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over James Madison first-year Niki Tomeljak.
Second-year Katie Rolls went 2-0 in singles, opening Friday with a clean 6-2, 6-1 win over Avidan before closing out Sunday with a 6-0, 6-1 statement win over Thundering Herd sophomore Isabella Walker on Sunday. Third-year Martina Genis Salas also went 2-0, defeating Dukes fourth-year Anna Kantor 6-0, 6-3 on Friday and Marshall sophomore Sarah Copley 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday. Both Cavaliers played aggressive baseline games that not only moved their opponents from corner to corner, but one that also forced errors on the other side of the net. First-year Shannon Lam rounded out Sunday’s singles action with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Thundering Herd freshman Amelie Gomez, showing composure and clean ball-striking in her Wahoowa Invitational debut.
James went 2-0 in singles, defeating James Madison second-year Brooklyn Hoffman 4-6, 6-1, 10-6 on Friday in a hard fought comeback, adjusting between sets by getting more aggressive on return games and committing to her forehand, before adding a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Marshall junior Nour El Ouazzani on Sunday. However, she suffered the team’s most notable setback on Saturday, however, falling to Gumeniuk 6-2, 2-6, 10-8 in a match tiebreak that slipped away late. First-year Mara Gae picked up the team’s other loss on Sunday, retiring at 2-6, 3-4 against Shaikh.
In doubles, Virginia was flawless across the weekend, going a perfect 8-0. On Friday, James and Yang opened with a 6-2 win over Hoffmann and Avidan, building an early lead before their opponents could catch up. Rolls and Gae took down Kantor and Rietmann 6-1 in a similarly dominant performance, while Zozaya and Genis Salas rounded out Friday’s doubles play with a 6-1 win over Vagi and Tomeljak.
On Saturday, James and Yang continued their unbeaten doubles run with a 6-1 win over West Virginia sophomore Sosanna Malaak and Matis. The more interesting contest came from the other court, where Lam and Gae faced Mountaineer junior Laura Villanueva Morillo and freshman Daniela Gonzalez in a tighter battle that went to a tiebreak. James and Yang held their nerve, staying composed on bigger points and closing out 7-6 (3).
Sunday’s doubles sweep completed the perfect weekend. James and Yang won their third straight match together, taking down Walker and Mokyrnska 6-1. Zozaya and Genis Salas added a 6-2 win over Gumeniuk and Copley, and the pairing of Lam and Rolls closed out the weekend with a 6-2 win over the Thundering Herd’s Gomez and El Ouazzani.
The Wahoowa Invitational served its purpose, allowing the Cavaliers to get matches in across the entire roster, sharpening both their singles and doubles play. However, the real test comes next week as the Cavaliers head to Lynchburg, Va., to compete in the ITA Atlantic Regional. Here, they will be competing for two singles and one doubles spot to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships in November.
Margaret Jane Piatos is a senior associate on the sports desk. She is a fourth-year College student, majoring in Political Philosophy, Policy and Law. Margaret is from San Marino, Calif., and she enjoys covering men's and women's tennis.
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