Virginia Tennis Teams Both Advance to Semifinals at ACC Championships

Both the UVA men's and women's tennis teams won their ACC quarterfinal matches against Miami on Friday in Cary

Virginia Athletics

Both the Virginia women's and men's tennis teams were victorious in their quarterfinal matches at the ACC Tennis Championships on Friday at Cary Tennis Park in North Carolina. 

ACC Women's Tennis Quarterfinals: No. 4 Virginia 4, No. 5 Miami 3

In postseason play in any sport, the theme is survive and advance. The UVA women's tennis team did just that in the ACC quarterfinals on Friday, outlasting No. 5 seed Miami in a 4-3 thriller. 

Sara Ziodato and Annabelle Xu opened the match with a 6-3 doubles win on court 3 and then Natasha Subhash and Elaine Chervinsky took down the No. 29-ranked team of Alexa Noel and Isabella Pfennig 6-3 on court 2 to claim the doubles point for the Cavaliers. 

Ziodato made it 2-0 Virginia with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Maya Tahan on court 6. But Miami's Alexa Noel, the No. 5-ranked women's tennis player in the country, earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over Natasha Subhash on the top court to get the Canes on the board. Hibah Shaikh put another point up for the Hoos on court 5, defeating Mia Mack 6-0, 6-4 to get UVA within one point of clinching the match with a 3-1 lead. 

The Hurricanes wouldn't go down easily, though, picking up tightly-contested wins on courts 2 and 3 to tie things up at 3-3. That left the match to be determined on court 4, where Annabelle Xu was battling with Miami's Audrey Boch-Collins. Xu claimed the first set 6-4 and then won the second set via 8-6 tiebreaker to secure the dramatic victory for Virginia. 

“I’m really proud of the composure, toughness and belief we played with today,” said Virginia head coach Sara O’Leary. “Miami is a very good team who always makes you earn the win. No matter the situation in each individual match, we stayed present and that paid off. I’m proud of the way Annabelle handled the moment of being the last match on court."

Miami won each of the top three singles courts, but UVA cleaned up the bottom three and won the doubles point to win the match 4-3. 

For the third-consecutive year, Virginia will face North Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC Women's Tennis Championship. The Cavaliers will look to repeat what they did last year when they upset the top-seeded Tar Heels to advance to the championship match. No. 4 Virginia will take on No. 1 and unbeaten North Carolina in the semifinals on Saturday at 10am. Due to forecasted inclement weather, the semifinal matches will take place at the indoor courts at Duke. 

ACC Men's Tennis Quarterfinals: No. 1 Virginia 4, No. 8 Miami 2

The two-time defending ACC Champions got off to a rough start in their quest for a three-peat as Miami captured the doubles point with wins on courts 2 and 3 to take a 1-0 lead. 

Virginia answered as No. 10 Chris Rodesch delivered an impressive performance in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 24 Dan Martin on the top court. The Hurricanes regained the lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win by Franco Aubone over UVA's Douglas Yaffa on court 6, but that would be the last point Miami would score in the match. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg pulled UVA back even with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Martin Katz and then Ryan Goetz defeated Leo Bierbaum 6-3, 6-1 to give Virginia the lead. Alexander Kiefer had the honor of clinching the match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Nacho Serra Sanchez on court 5. 

The Cavaliers are seeking their third-consecutive ACC title and 15th in program history. 

Virginia advances to the semifinals and will face No. 5 seed Florida State on Saturday at 2pm at the indoor courts at Duke. 

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