Virginia Upsets No. 1 North Carolina in ACC Semifinals

ROME, Ga. –  The No. 7 Virginia girls’s tennis crew (20-4) defeated No. 1 North Carolina (24-2) by a 4-2 rating within the semifinals of the 2022 Atlantic Coast Convention Girls’s Tennis Championship on Saturday (April 23) on the Rome Tennis Middle in Rome, Ga.

UVA advances to the ACC Championship match the place they are going to face two-seed Duke (18-3, 11-2 ACC) on Sunday, Apr. 24 at 2 p.m. It will likely be UVA’s first time enjoying within the last since 2015.

Junior Natasha Subhash gained the clinching level for the Cavaliers.

North Carolina opened the match with a 6-1 win on doubles court docket two. Sophomore Elaine Chervinsky and senior Amber O’Dell evened it with a 6-4 win on court docket three. Sophomores Emma Navarro and Hibah Shaikh clinched the purpose with a 7-5 victory towards the nation’s top-ranked doubles crew Elizabeth Scotty and Fiona Crawley.

Navarro gave UVA a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-0 win towards No. 4 Cameron Morra on the highest court docket. The Tar Heels got here again to tie the match with straight-set victories on courts 4 and 5. Sophomore Sara Ziodato put the Cavaliers again forward with a 6-4, 6-1 win towards Anika Yarlagadda on court docket six.

On court docket two, Subhash had gained her first set 6-4 towards Scotty, who’s ranked No. 22 within the ITA singles rankings, however dropped her second 6-2. Within the third set, Subhash jumped out to a 3-0 lead, however Scotty broke again to place it again on serve. Subhash broke Scotty within the last recreation to win 6-4 and seal the victory.

FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY
“I’m simply so extremely pleased with this group! I believe they only dealt with all of the adversity that they confronted at the moment so effectively they usually did it with such composure and dedication. There have been so many momentum switches from doubles to singles. They only stored believing in themselves and believing in one another. That’s what they’ve been doing the previous couple of weeks and I’m simply thrilled for them. I’m excited for them. And we’re, we’re actually wanting ahead to tomorrow.”

MATCH NOTES

• The Cavaliers have gained their final 9 matches, together with two victories towards No. 3 NC State and this one towards No. 1 North Carolina
• This was the highest-ranked win for this system since defeating No. 1 Duke in 2014
• Final season, the Cavaliers superior to the semifinals with a 4-2 win towards Duke earlier than falling 4-1 towards North Carolina. Natasha Subhash had the lone level for the Cavaliers within the loss to the Tar Heels
• UNC has the earlier eight conferences between the 2 groups. UVA’s final victory over the Tar Heels got here within the Spherical of 16 of the 2016 NCAA Event
• Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary and affiliate head coach Gina Suarez-Malaguti are each UNC alumna
• Duke is ranked No. 5 within the newest ITA crew rankings. Virginia is No. 7
• Duke gained the regular-season assembly 4-3 in Durham

VIRGINIA & ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

• Virginia has made two journeys to the finals since 1990 (the current format for the championship) in 2014 and 2015, successful the title each instances below earlier head coach Mark Gilbeau
• Danielle Collins was the 2014 ACC Championship MVP; Skyler Morton gained the honour in 2015
• UVA additionally has two runner-up finishes in earlier match codecs in 1978 and 1989
• Sara O’Leary is in search of her first convention championship as a head coach. Her Davidson Wildcats made the convention last in her second of three seasons there (2016)

#7 Virginia 4, #1 North Carolina 2

Singles competitors

1. #1 Emma Navarro (VA) def. #4 Cameron Morra (NC) 6-1, 6-0
2. #42 Natasha Subhash (VA) def. #22 Elizabeth Scotty (NC) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
3. #25 Reilly Tran (NC) vs #67 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) 7-6 (5), 6-6 (5-3), unfinished
4. #55 Fiona Crawley (NC) def. Sofia Munera (VA) 6-3, 6-2
5. #49 Carson Tanguilig (NC) def. Hibah Shaikh (VA) 6-1, 6-4
6. Sara Ziodato (VA) def. Anika Yarlagadda (NC) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles competitors

1. #8 Emma Navarro/Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. #1 Elizabeth Scotty/Fiona Crawley (NC) 7-5
2. Alle Sanford/Carson Tanguilig (NC) def. Sofia Munera/Natasha Subhash (VA) 6-1
3. Elaine Chervinsky/Amber O’Dell (VA) def. Reilly Tran/Cameron Morra (NC) 6-4

Order of end: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,5,4,6,2)