Charlottesville, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS)-- The No. 8 Virginia women’s tennis team  picked up a 4-1 victory against South Carolina to punch their ticket to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

The match began with a tight doubles point in which all three courts went to tiebreakers. Both Julia Adams and Mélodie Collard on court one and Natasha Subhash and Annabelle Xu on court two faced set points trailing 5-3, and both won deuce points to keep their matches alive. Adams and Collard won their tiebreaker 7-2 before Subhash and Xu followed with a 7-4 win in their breaker to clinch the doubles point.

In singles, Elaine Chervinsky gave UVA a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-3 win on court three. No. 20 Ayana Akli got the Gamecocks on the board with a straight-set win on the top court to make it 2-1. After winning a tight first set on court four, 6-4, Sara Ziodato went 6-0 in her second set to put the Cavaliers up 3-1. Hibah Shaikh battled through a tiebreaker, 9-7, to decide her first set, and then closed out the victory with a 6-2 win in the second against Alice Otis on court six.

Subhash was leading 5-1 in the third set on court two when play was suspended.

This is the second straight year the Cavaliers have qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. They will be among the 16 teams competing for the first national title of the dual match season next month.

#8 Virginia 4, South Carolina 1

Singles competition

1. #20 Ayana Akli (SC) def. #34 Julia Adams (VA) 6-1, 6-3

2. #90 Natasha Subhash (VA) vs. Gracie Mulville (SC) 4-6, 6-2, 5-1, unfinished

3. #50 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) def. Elise Mills (SC) 6-1, 6-3

4. Sara Ziodato (VA) def. Ana Cruz (SC) 6-4, 6-0

5. #62 Annabelle Xu (VA) vs. Misa Malkin (SC) 6-4, 1-6, 2-2, unfinished

6. #77 Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. Alice Otis (SC) 7-6 (9-7), 6-2

 

Doubles competition

1. Julia Adams/Melodie Collard (VA) def. Ayana Akli/Gracie Mulville (SC) 7-6 (7-2)

2. Natasha Subhash/Annabelle Xu (VA) def. Allie Gretkowski/McKenna Schaefbauer (SC) 7-6 (7-4)

3. Elaine Chervinsky/Sara Ziodato (VA) vs. Elise Mills/Alice Otis (SC) 6-6, unfinished