Two Hokies appear in Oracle/ITA national rankings

Junior Caroline Daxhelet paces the Hokie roster with a No. 47 singles ranking

January 5, 2017

BLACKSBURG – Juniors Caroline Daxhelet and Elena Cerezo-Codina of the Virginia Tech women’s tennis team were included in the Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Collegiate Tennis Women’s Division I National Rankings released on Wednesday.

ITA Singles Rankings | ITA Doubles Rankings

Daxhelet paces the Hokie roster with a No. 47 singles ranking. The Arlon, Belgium, native, who was ranked No. 96 in the fall, compiled an 8-4 singles record and picked up two victories over top-50 singles matchups. The junior collected wins over Northwestern’s No. 30 Maddie Lipp and Clemson’s No. 46 Ayan Broomfield at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships, advancing to the round of 16 in the qualifying bracket. She also participated in singles action at the ITA Atlantic Regionals and the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic.

As a sophomore, Daxhelet played her way to a 17-5 mark in dual-match singles play. She won a team-high 11 consecutive matches, including a key victory on court three in the team’s upset win over then-No. 6 Duke in Blacksburg.

Additionally, Daxhelet and Cerezo-Codina earned a No. 59 national doubles ranking after a stellar fall season paired on the court. The Hokie duo recorded a 5-3 mark and became the first pair in program history to qualify for the main doubles draw at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships. The doubles tandem recorded three straight victories and was one-of-four teams in a 32-team field that advanced to the main event. The classmates also tallied a 2-1 doubles record at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic, falling to Florida’s then-No. 37 Spencer Liang and Anna Danilina in the semifinal round of competition.

Of note, the ITA also released its first regional rankings of the year, with No. 2 Daxhelet, No. 5 Francesca Fusinato, No. 12 Cerezo-Codina and No. 13 Natalie Novotna all earning top-20 singles rankings in the Atlantic region. In addition to the four singles players, three Hokie doubles pairs appeared among the top 10 tandems in the region, with Daxhelet and Cerezo-Codina checking in at No. 2, Novotna and Cerezo-Codina at No. 4 and Daxhelet and Fusinato at No. 8.

The Hokies open their 2017 spring schedule at home with a doubleheader against Troy and East Tennessee State on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. The match against Troy is set to begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by ETSU at 4 p.m.

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