Virginia Tennis Duo Chervinsky and Collard Reach NCAA Doubles Championship Final

Virginia Women’s Tennis Advances to NCAA Doubles Championship Final

Virginia women’s tennis seniors Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard reached the final of the NCAA Doubles Championship in Waco, Texas. They advanced after defeating Florida’s Rachel Gailis and Alicia Dudeney 1-6, 6-3, [10-8] on November 23. They will face UCLA’s Olivia Center and Kate Fakih in the championship match on November 24 at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Chervinsky and Collard started strong but lost the first set. They won the second set 6-3, forcing a match tiebreaker. Despite falling 5-0 behind in the tiebreaker, they rallied to take an 8-7 lead. After a brief tie at 8-8, they secured the last two points for victory. The duo has won all their tournament matches in a match tiebreak.

In earlier rounds, they defeated Washington’s Reece Carter and Alexia Jacobs, Georgia’s Guillermina Grant and Aysegul Mert, and UNC’s Carson Tanguilig and Susanna Maltby. Chervinsky and Collard are the first UVA team to make it to the final, aiming for the program’s first NCAA Doubles Championship title.

In addition to their doubles success, Chervinsky made it to the quarterfinals of the singles championship, defeating Texas A&M’s top seed Mary Stoiana. This performance earns her ITA Singles All-America honors.

Virginia has a record five players competing in the individual championships, with junior Annabelle Xu and grad student Sara Ziodato also participating in singles matches.

To qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships, players had to participate in qualifying tournaments throughout the fall.