UVA Women's Tennis Downs Washington State 4-1, Advances to ITA Kickoff Final

The No. 8-ranked Virginia women's tennis team earned a 4-1 win over Washington State on Friday at Boar's Head to advance to the championship match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Cavaliers will take on the winner of South Carolina and Northwestern on Saturday at 3:30pm with a trip to the 2023 ITA National Indoor Team Championships on the line. 

Virginia began the match by sweeping each of the three doubles play matches. Elaine Chervinsky and Sara Ziodato picked up a 6-3 win, as did Natasha Subhash and Annabella Xu to clinch the point. Julia Adams and Melodie Collard defeated Washington State's Maxine Murphy and Eva Alvarez 6-4 to complete the doubles sweep. 

Melodie Collard carried that momentum into singles play, easily defeating her opponent Stefaniia Mikhailova 6-1, 6-1 on court 6. Natasha Subhash added a 6-0, 6-2 win over Eva Alvarez Sande on court 2 to make it 3-0 in favor of the Cavaliers. 

On the top court, the Cougars picked up their first and only point as Maxine Murphy won a three-set thriller against Virginia's Julia Adams, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. But, UVA wrapped up the win as Hibah Shaikh downed Fifa Kumhom 6-4, 6-3 on court 5 to clinch the match.

Now 3-0 on the season, Virginia will return to action on Saturday at 3:30pm at Boar's Head and will face either South Carolina or Northwestern. The winner will advance to the 2023 ITA National Indoor Team Championships, which will take place February 10-13 in Seattle. 

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