Hokie ClubCARY, N.C. – With the match tied at 3, freshman Nika Kozar clinched the point needed to give the 13th-seeded Virginia Tech women's tennis team the big upset, as the Hokies knocked off fifth-seeded No. 17 Florida State, 4-3 on Thursday afternoon at the ACC Women's Tennis Championship in Cary, North Carolina.
Kozar dropped the first set 7-5 to FSU's Julia Mikluski. The two battled in the second set and were tied at 6, forcing the tiebreak. Kozar fought off two match points in the breaker after trailing 6-4, to rally for the 8-6 win. In the final set, Kozar controlled it, winning it 6-1 to take the match.
With an exciting finish, Nika clinches the match against #17 FSU! #ACCWTEN pic.twitter.com/T8GiifnPIl
— Virginia Tech Women's Tennis (@HokiesWTennis) April 26, 2018
Virginia Tech got off to the strong start winning the doubles match at two where the freshman pair of Kozar and Nina Sorkin secured it 6-4.
Caroline Daxhelet and Natalie Novotna paired up at one to face off against FSU's 49th-ranked Carla Touly and Ariana Rahmanparast. Tech's duo trailed 3-1 early in the match, but rallied to win it 6-4, clinching the doubles point.
Novotna, ranked 71st, continued to roll as she took down 19th-ranked Carla Touly with straight set scores of 6-0, 6-4 to push the Hokies' lead to 2-0. Florida State took the next three singles matches to pull ahead 3-2.
Daxhelet pushed back against No. 102 Petra Hule after giving up the opening set 6-1. The Tech senior responded in the second to win 7-5 and rolled to the 6-3 win in the third to set up the deciding match on court four.
This is just the second time since the ACC expanded following the 2012 season that the Hokies have advanced to the quarterfinals at the ACC Championship.
Tech advance to face No. 15, fourth-seeded Miami on Friday in a 9 a.m. match at Cary Tennis Park.
Singles
1. #71 Natalie Novotna (VT) def. #19 Carla Touly (FS) 6-0, 6-4
2. Caroline Daxhelet (VT) def. #102 Petra Hule (FS) 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
3. Nandini Das (FS) def. Elena Cerezo-Codina (VT) 7-6(2), 6-2
4. Nika Kozar (VT) def. Julia Mikulski (FS) 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-1
5. Ariana Rahmanparast (FS) def. Katherine Butler (VT) 6-1, 6-1
6. Andrea Garcia (FS) def. Nina Sorkin (VT) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 1,5,6,3,2,4
Doubles
1. Daxhelet/Novotna (VT) def. #49 Touly/Rahmanparast (FS) 6-4
2. Kozar/Sorkin (VT) def. Garcia/Mikulski (FS) 6-4
3. Hule/Castaneda (FS) vs. Sarah Baron/Butler (VT) 5-3 dnf
Order of finish: 2,1