BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech left it all on the court Sunday afternoon against No. 59 Florida State in a 4-3 defeat. Four singles matches went to three sets in the Hokies' fourth-consecutive ranked matchup.
Elizabet Danailova and Rita Pinto started the day on a good note in doubles on Court 3, cruising to a 6-3 win in their second match together this season. The Hokies narrowly missed out on the doubles point, however, as the Seminoles claimed 7-5 decisions on Court 1 and Court 2.
As the match transitioned to singles, Virginia Tech was tied at 1-1 on the scoreboard after Florida State had to forfeit Court 6.
The Seminoles went up 2-1 when their No. 16-ranked player defeated Danailova on Court 1, despite Danailova's push in the second set. After that match, the remaining four battles all went to three sets.
Tamara Barad Itzhaki fell on Court 2 in a tight match, putting Florida State up 3-1. After dropping her first set, Dariya Radulova fought back for a 6-3 second set win. In the third set, she was unable to close the comeback and the Seminoles clinched the win.
Erika Cheng and Semra Aksu were still in play on Court 4 and Court 5 in their own three-set matches. Cheng fell behind after losing a tiebreaker in the first set but took it up a level in the second and third set for a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 result. Similar to her court neighbor, Aksu dropped the first set to a tiebreaker, but was dominant for the rest of her match, winning 6-7, 6-1, 6-2.
The Hokies will return to action next weekend on the road against Notre Dame, Louisville and Bellarmine.Gallery: (3-20-2022) WTEN: FSU Match
