The Virginia women’s tennis team travels to Cary, N.C. this week for the 2009 ACC Tournament. The seventh-seeded Cavaliers open play against No. 10 seed Boston College on Thursday in the first round. VirginiaSports.com caught up with senior Maggie Yahner to review last week’s wins over Wake Forest and NC State and to preview the tournament. 

Question: Last week you were able to get back into the singles lineup for the first time since January. How did it feel to get back in the lineup and record a pair of victories?

Yahner: I was really excited and thrilled to have that opportunity. I was a little bit tight and nervous in the beginning because I hadn’t played in a while. But I was proud of myself that I was able to work through that and ultimately get two wins. It was definitely a long process and my health is good. Hopefully that just keeps going in a positive direction this week at ACCs.   

Question: You have battled through injuries throughout you career, including this season. Right now, is this about as good as you have felt in a while?

Yahner: Yes. Recently when I was only playing doubles, before I started playing singles again, my knee was feeling really good. I felt like I was where I was before the injury. Now that I am playing singles, I feel like I have the most mobility I have had since my surgery.

Question: Last week you were 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. How did it feel to have that type of success as you played the final home matches of your career?

Yahner: It was definitely a nice way to perform on senior day. They were matches where we were favored, so to be able to execute and get the job done is what I am most proud of.  

Question: The two wins last week came after six matches against top 25 opponents where you couldn’t pull off an upset. How important was it for the team to get a pair of wins to get some positive momentum heading into the ACC Tournament?

Yahner: It means a lot for us. Those wins gave us some confidence and I think we are in a good position as we head to the tournament. We have a lot of fire and a lot of heart and those things will help us this week.   

Question: What are you looking forward to at the ACC Tournament this week?

Yahner: We first need to get ready to play Boston College on Thursday. We know what to expect and had a good result against them the first time we played them. Hopefully we can get through that and get a second chance at Duke. Even though it was a 7-0 loss in the regular season, there were a few matches that were close that we just couldn’t pull out. We would like to get another chance to capitalize on some of those close matches.