No. 9 UVA Women's Tennis Sweeps JMU to Advance to ITA Kickoff Championship

The Cavaliers will face No. 16 Stanford in the ITA Kickoff Final on Saturday

Matt Newton | Jan 29, 2022

Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

The No. 9 Virginia women's tennis team is one win away from returning to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2016. The Cavaliers swept JMU 4-0 on Friday in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Boar's Head Sports Club.

UVA took the doubles point to begin the match on wins by Sofia Munera and Hibah Shaikh (6-1) and Elaine Chervinsky and Natasha Subhash (6-2). Emma Navarro and Amber O'Dell were leading their doubles match 5-3 when play was suspended due to Chervinsky and Subhash clinching the doubles point for Virginia.

Sofia Munera kept the momentum going for the Cavaliers in singles competition with a 6-1, 6-2 win over JMU's Amanda Nord. Sara Ziodato then made it 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Hope Moulin. Virginia clinched the 4-0 sweep on Elaina Chervinsky's 6-0, 6-3 win over Natalia Nikolopoulou. Emma Navarro (6-3, 5-3), Natasha Subhash (6-2, 5-2), and Hibah Shaikh (6-3, 2-1) were leading their singles matches when Chervinsky sealed the win for the Hoos and play was suspended.

With the win, Virginia improves to 4-0 and advances to the ITA Kickoff Final on Saturday against No. 16 Stanford, who advanced after defeated Arkansas 4-2 on Friday evening.

The winner of Virginia and Stanford's championship match on Saturday at 3:30pm will secure a bid to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held February 11-14 in Madison, Wisconsin.

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Published Jan 29, 2022

MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.