W. Tennis Falls, 6-1, at No. 5 Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 19 University of Miami women’s tennis team (9-6, 7-4 ACC) dropped a top-five matchup, 6-1, to No. 5 Virginia (19-3, 11-1 ACC) on Friday evening.

The Cavaliers started the match with a shutout on court one from No. 16 Melodie Collard and Elaine Chervinsky over No. 29 Pfennig and Nong, 6-0. Then, the No. 39 ranked duo of Natasha Subhash and Hibah Shaik won, 6-2,  over Antonia Balzert and Leonie Schuknecht on court two. Audrey Boch-Collins and Alexa Noel led 4-3 against Annabelle Xu and Sara Ziodato when play was halted.

Virginia pushed more into its lead and secured the first singles win with Natasha Subhash claiming the 6-0, 6-0 win over Leonie Schuknecht on court four. Court six followed it up, as Melodie Collard took down Xinyi Nong, 6-0, 6-2, to push the Cavaliers lead to 3-0. The match was clinched for Virginia after No. 76 Sara Ziodato defeated Antonia Balzert, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 3 spot.

Miami put up a point after No. 112 Audrey Boch-Collins notched the 6-1, 6-3 win on court five over No. 99 Elaine Chervinsky.

As the match continued, Virginia grabbed the last two courts in tiebreaker sets. On court two, No. 23 Hibah Shaikh took down No. 62 Isabella Pfennig, 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6), while No. 95 Annabelle Xu claimed the top court, 6-2, 0-6, 1-0 (10-7), over No. 9 Alexa Noel.

The Hurricanes will close out the regular season on Sunday when they travel to Blacksburg, Va., to face No. 71 Virginia Tech.