Singles Play Lifts No. 2 Cavaliers to 4-1 Win Over Stanford
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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The second-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team continued its quest for an unprecedented fifth consecutive ITA National Team Indoor Championship with a 4-1 win over No. 9 Stanford on Saturday night in front of 1,057 fans at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers improve to 7-0 on the season with the victory, while the Cardinal falls to 7-4 on the season.
“That was a great match and great victory for our team,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “I was excited for them to be able to play in this incredible environment. We bounced back from dropping the doubles point and played well from top to bottom in the singles lineup. Every guy was focused and did an outstanding job for us to win as a team.”
Stanford opened the match by winning the doubles point, marking the first time this season the Cavaliers failed to take the opening point. Mitchell Frank (Annandale, Va.) and Julen Uriguen (Guatemala City, Guatemala) gave Virginia an early edge with an 8-3 win at No. 3 over John Morrissey and Robert Stineman. However the Cardinal rallied to win at the top two positions, as Ryan Thacher and Bradley Klahn downed Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) and Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) 8-6 at No. 1, and Denis Lin and Matt Kandath topped Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and Steven Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) 8-6 at No. 2.
In singles, Virginia rebounded and won five of six first sets to take momentum in the match. Courtney evened the score as he cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Lin at the No. 4 position. Seconds later Domijan gave the Cavaliers the lead with his 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Kandath. Uriguen scored a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 6 over Stineman to push the advantage to 3-1. Frank sealed the win with a 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over Klahn, the 2010 NCAA Singles Champion, at the No. 3 spot.
The win was Virginia’s 94th consecutive home victory and extended its ITA National Team Indoor win streak to 18 matches.
Virginia will play No. 3 seed Ohio State in the semifinals on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Admission is free.
#2 VIRGINIA 4, #9 STANFORD 1
Doubles:
1. Thacher/Klahn (Stan) def. #12 Jenkins/Courtney (UVa) 8-6
2. Kandath/Lin (Stan) def. #42 Domijan/Rooda (UVa) 8-6
3. Frank/Uriguen (AU) def. Morrissey/Stineman (Stan) 8-3
Singles:
1. #10 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) led #29 Ryan Thacher (Stan) 6-4, 5-5 DNF
2. Alex Domijan (UVa) def. Matt Kandath (Stan) 6-3, 6-1
3. #1 Mitchell Frank (UVa) def. Bradley Klahn (Stan) 7-6(6), 6-3
4. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Denis Lin (Stan) 6-1, 6-2
5. John Morrissey (Stan) led #37 Justin Shane (UVa) 6-3, 5-5 DNF
6. Julen Uriguen (UVa) def. Robert Stineman (Stan) 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3,1,2
Singles: 4,2,6,3