University of Virginia gets the pass for the ITA National Championships



by LORENZO CIOTTI

University of Virginia gets the pass for the ITA National Championships
© University of Virginia website

No. 11 University of Virginia women's tennis team defeated Georgia Tech 4-0 on Saturday, Jan. 27, in the ITA Kickoff Weekend final at Boar's Head Sports Club.

The win earns Virginia the pass for the 37th ITA National Team Indoor Championships, which will be held Feb. 9-12 in Seattle, Wash.

This will be the 12th time Virginia has competed at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship and the third consecutive year the Cavaliers have qualified for indoor and the fourth time in the last five years.

Head coach Sara O'Leary said after the win: "First I would like to thank all the fans who came out to support us today. We had a fantastic crowd and that made a big difference, so thank you!!

I thought this was a really productive weekend for us. We learned a lot and I'm proud of how our team responded to the challenges. We take care of the little things on and off the pitch and our results this weekend showed it.

We know what we need to work on and we can't wait to get back to work preparing for Michigan next weekend and for a chance to compete in Seattle. I'm proud of the team and we're excited to be back!"

The Cavaliers won doubles and posted consecutive singles victories on courts two, four and five. The decisive point for the Cavaliers was won by senior Sara Ziodato.

Graduate student Natasha Subhash and senior Hibah Shaikh opened the match with a 6-1 victory in No. 1 doubles. 2, but Georgia Tech tied it with a 6-4 win on first court. Ziodato and sophomore Annabelle Xu won 6-4 on court three to take the point. Junior Elaine Chervinsky put UVA ahead 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 1 singles. Shaikh added a 6-0, 6-2 victory on two before Ziodato finished off a 6-2, 6-2 victory on four.

Women's doubles

Carol Lee/Kate Sharabura (GT) def. Melodie Collard/Elaine Chervinsky (VA) 6-4
#48 Natasha Subhash/Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. Kylie Bilchev/Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-1
Annabelle Xu/Sara Ziodato (VA) def. Dato Roach/Scarlett Nicholson (GT) 6-4

Women's singles

#86 Annabelle Xu (VA) vs. #107 Carol Lee (GT) 6-4, 1-3, unfinished
#46 Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. #123 Kylie Bilchev (GT) 6-0, 6-2
Natasha Subhash (VA) vs. Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-2, 3-4, unfinished
#88 Sara Ziodato (VA) def. Dato Roach (GT) 6-2, 6-2
Elaine Chervinsky (VA) def. Mahak Jain (GT) 6-1, 6-3
#82 Melodie Collard (VA) vs. Scarlett Nicholson (GT) 4-6, 4-0, unfinished

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