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BLACKSBURG, Va. – It came down to the last match to decide the winner in Virginia Tech’s 4-3 victory over No. 35 Princeton on Saturday at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. With the score tied at 3-3, Caroline Daxhelet defeated Princeton’s Dorothy Tang (1-6, 6-1, 6-3) to seal the deal for the Hokies.

The Hokies began the day by winning the doubles point behind victories from the No. 36 ranked duo of Francesca Fusinato and Raluca Mita as well as Elena Cerezo-Codina and Sansitha Nandakumar. Fusinato and Mita finished first, winning 6-4 over Katrine Steffensen and Lindsay Graff of Princeton. Cerezo-Codina and Nandakumar followed with a victory over Emily Hahn and Alanna Wolff to clinch the point, also by a score of 6-4. Daxhelet and Kelly Williford were also in action, but their match was ended early due to the point being decided.

Cerezo-Codina came off the court first in singles with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Wolff, while Williford won her match over Princeton’s Caroline Joyce in three sets (6-1, 0-6, 6-4). These matches set up Daxhelet to claim the win for the Hokies. Fusinato, Mita, and Ilinca Stoica all dropped tough matches in singles play on the day as well.

The win over Princeton lands the Hokies in Sunday’s championship match against the host No. 7 Alabama, who took care of No. 57 Syracuse 4-0 on Saturday. The match will be at 3:00 p.m. ET in Tuscaloosa and can be followed via live stats found at http://www.rolltide.com/livestats/w-tennis/xlive.htm.

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Results vs. Princeton

Singles:

#1: Graff def. Stoica (6-3. 6-4)

#2: Muliawan def. Fusinato (6-3, 6-1)

#3: Cerezo-Codina def. Wolff (6-1, 6-2)

#4: Daxhelet def. Tang (6-1, 1-6. 6-3)

#5: Williford def. Joyce (6-1, 0-6, 6-4)

#6: Steffensen def. Mita (7-6, 6-3)

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4*

Doubles:

#1: Fusinato/Mita def. Graff/Steffensen (6-4)

#2: Muliawan/Tang vs Daxhelet/Williford (finished early, 5-4)

#3: Cerezo-Codina/Nandkumar def. Wolff/Hahn (6-4)

Order of finish: 1, 3*

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