No. 9 UVA Women’s Tennis Opens Season With Wins Over Richmond and JMU

The No. 9 Virginia ladies’s tennis workforce opened the 2023 season with a pair of robust victories over Richmond and James Madison on Friday afternoon at Boar’s Head Sports activities Membership. The Cavaliers swept the Spiders 7-0 and defeated the Dukes 6-1 within the Friday doubleheader. 

Friday’s matches marked the UVA debuts for 3 newcomers: Furman graduate switch Julia Adams (Knoxville Tennessee), freshman Annabelle Xu (Montreal, Canada), and freshman Meggie Navarro (Charleston, South Carolina), the youthful sister of former UVA standout and 2021 NCAA Singles Champion Emma Navarro, who turned professional after the 2022 season. 

Sophomore Melodie Collard teamed up with Julia Adams on courtroom 1 and picked up a 6-1 win to kick off doubles competitors in UVA’s season-opener towards Richmond. On courtroom 3, Elaine Chervinsky and Sara Ziodato defeated Richmond’s Lara Bakhaya and Elizabeth Novak to clinch the doubles level for Virginia. The courtroom 2 match between UVA’s Natasha Subhash/Annabelle Xu and Richmond’s Andrea Campodonico/Marta Buendia went unfinished with Subhash and Xu main 4-1.

Ziodato picked up a 6-2, 6-1 win over Carly Cohen on courtroom 2 and Julia Adams, who’s ranked because the No. 34 ladies’s singles participant, defeated Leonor Oliveira 6-4, 6-3 on the highest courtroom to make it 3-0 in favor of the Cavaliers. The freshman Annabelle Xu clinched the victory for Virginia with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Campodonico on courtroom 3. 

Hibah Shaikh received 6-4, 6-1 on courtroom 4 and Nicole Kiefer earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory on courtroom 6. Meggie Navarro put the ending touches on a 7-0 sweep for Virginia with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 victory in her collegiate debut. 

Within the second half of the doubleheader, Julia Adams and Melodie Collard once more obtained the Cavaliers began with a 6-3 win after which Natasha Subhash and Annabelle Xu received 6-4 on courtroom 2 to clinch the doubles level. Elaine Chervinsky and Sara Ziodato made it a clear sweep in doubles play with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-2) win on courtroom 3. 

Natasha Subhash dominated her singles match towards Daria Afanasyeva, profitable 6-0, 6-0 on courtroom 2. Annabelle Xu additionally picked up a powerful 6-2, 6-0 victory over Daria Munteanu on courtroom 5. Hibah Shaikh clinched the match for Virginia with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Reka Matko on courtroom 6. 

Julia Adams defeated Kylie Moulin 7-5, 6-4 on the highest courtroom, however JMU obtained on the board with a 3-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5) upset win by Ines Oliveira over UVA’s Elaine Chervinsky. Sara Ziodato wrapped up the match with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Daniele Voloh on courtroom 4. 

Virginia will host the ITA Kickoff Weekend subsequent weekend, as Washington State, Ole Miss, and Princeton compete with UVA for an invite to the ITA Nationwide Staff Championships. UVA faces Washington State on Friday at 3pm at Boar’s Head. The championship match shall be on Saturday at 3:30pm.

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