Tech suffers setback at No. 4 North Carolina

The Hokies dropped a 7-0 decision in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Friday afternoon

March 24, 2017

	F
Georgia Tech	4
Virginia Tech	0
Box Score

BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech women’s tennis team dropped a 7-0 decision at No. 4 North Carolina, today, at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Virginia Tech (7-7, 0-5 ACC) found themselves in a hole early after surrendering the doubles point to North Carolina (19-1, 6-0 ACC). Senior Sansitha Nandakumar and Luisa Uscocovich suffered their first doubles loss of the season, as they stumbled against UNC’s Chloe Ouellet-Pizer and Rachael James-Baker, 6-2, on court three. Senior Francesca Fusinato and junior Caroline Daxhelet closed out the doubles session, as they lost to UNC’s Jessie Aney and Hayley Carter – the top-ranked doubles tandem in the nation – at the No. 1 slot by a score of 6-3.

The Tar Heels then swept the Hokies in straight sets at every position, with the exception of a three-set tiebreaker on court six.

Fusinato dropped a 6-1, 6-3 decision on court one to UNC’s Carter, who also is ranked No. 2 nationally in singles play.

Shortly after Fusinato’s match was completed, Daxhelet suffered a 6-2, 6-1 setback on court four to UNC’s No. 77 Makenna Jones. Nandakumar also stumbled against UNC’s Ouellet-Pizer at the No. 5 position (6-2, 6-1).

With Ouellet-Pizer’s victory on court five, North Carolina clinched the team’s fourth match point of the day to record the victory. Of note, juniors Katherine Butler and Elena Cerezo-Codina and freshman Natalie Novotna each recorded losses in singles action vs. the Tar Heels on Friday afternoon.

The Hokies will remain on the road and face No. 17 Duke on Sunday, March 26. The contest against the Blue Devils will start at noon, at the Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

Duke (10-3, 4-0 ACC) also took on Virginia in a Friday afternoon matchup, defeating the Cavaliers by a score of 6-1. The Blue Devils’ 4-0 start in league play has been fueled by solid singles play, as the Blue Devils are 20-4 in ACC singles action.

Duke has four ranked singles players, led by Meible Chi at No. 25. She is 25-9 in singles play this season and has recorded a 10-3 mark in dual-match play. Samantha Harris also checks in at No. 49, followed by Chalena Scholl at No. 52 and Kaitlyn McCarthy at No. 76. Additionally, the Blue Devils have two doubles teams with Chi and McCarthy at No. 26 and Scholl and McCarthy at No. 61.

Live results for the Blue Devils matchup can be found at HokieSports.com.

Fans can follow all the action during each match of the 2017 season by following the squad on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Doubles Competition:

No. 1: #1 Jessie Aney/Hayley Carter (UNC) def. Caroline Daxhelet/Francesca Fusinato (Tech), 6-3

No. 2: Elena Cerezo-Codina/Natalie Novotna (Tech) vs. Cassandra Vazquez/Alexa Graham (UNC), 4-3 unfinished

No. 3: Chloe Ouellet-Pizer/Rachael James-Baker (UNC) def. Sansitha Nandakumar/Luisa Uscocovich (Tech), 6-2

Singles Competition:

No. 1: #2 Hayley Carter (UNC) def. #108 Francesca Fusinato (VT) 6-1, 6-3

No. 2: #23 Jessie Aney (UNC) def. #97 Natalie Novotna (VT) 6-4, 6-4

No. 3: #40 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. Elena Cerezo-Codina (VT) 7-6 (9), 6-0

No. 4: #77 Makenna Jones (UNC) def. Caroline Daxhelet (VT) 6-2, 6-1

No. 5: Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (UNC) def. Sansitha Nandakumar (VT) 6-2, 6-1

No. 6: Rachael James-Baker (UNC) def. Katherine Butler (VT) 0-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (10-6)

Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (1,4,5,2,6,3)

For updates on Virginia Tech women's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_WTennis