Virginia Men's Tennis Downs No. 8 Baylor 6-1
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March 1, 2014
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 10 Virginia men’s tennis team returned home Saturday to post its highest win of the season, downing No. 8 Baylor 6-1 at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers improved to 7-1 with the victory, while the Bears fell to 8-3 on the season.
“I think Baylor is a top-five team and is certainly a national championship contender,” said head coach Brian Boland. “This was a tough match for us. We knew we were going to have to play at a high level today. I felt like coming off our first loss in almost two years that the guys were focused and we have come a long way in just a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to another challenging match tomorrow against Notre Dame.”
The Cavaliers opened the match by winning a close doubles point. There were few break point chances on all three courts and every match went to a tiebreaker. Virginia took the early edge as Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and Justin Shane (Falls Church, Va.) topped Mate Zsiga and Patrick Pradella 8-7(3) at No. 1 doubles. The Cavaliers clinched the opening point as Mitchell Frank (Annandale, Va.) and Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) won 8-7(3) at No. 2 doubles.
Virginia opened singles strong, winning four of the six first sets. The UVa lead in the match was doubled quickly as Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.) cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 5 over Lupieri. The lead was extended to 3-0 with Domijan’s 6-4, 6-3 win over Galeano at the No. 3 position. Baylor cut the advantage to 3-1 as sixth-ranked Julian Lenz won a top-10 showdown with fourth-ranked Frank, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 1 singles.
The match was clinched at No. 2, where Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.) posted the highest-ranked win of his career, topping 13th-ranked Pradella 6-4, 6-2. Virginia closed out the match with wins by Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) at No. 6 and Justin Shane at No. 4 to make the final score 6-1.
The Cavaliers conclude its weekend homestand Sunday with a doubleheader. Virginia hosts No. 6 Notre Dame at the Snyder Tennis Center at noon, followed by a 6 p.m. match with Liberty at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
#10 VIRGINIA 6, #8 BAYLOR 1
Doubles:
1. Domijan/J.Shane (UVa) def. Zsiga/Pradella (BU) 8-7 (3)
2. Frank/Corinteli (UVa) def. Lupieri/Galeano (BU) 8-7 (3)
3. Styslinger/Kwiatkowski (UVa) vs. Lenz/Dornbusch (BU) 7-7 (6-6) DNF
Order of Finish: 1,2
Singles:
1. #6 Julian Lenz (BU) def. #4 Mitchell Frank (UVa) 6-2, 6-2
2. Ryan Shane (UVa) def. #13 Patrick Pradella (BU) 6-4, 6-2
3. #92 Alex Domijan (UVa) def. #18 Diego Galeano (BU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Justin Shane (UVa) def. Mate Zsiga (BU) 6-4, 6-3
5. #73 Mac Styslinger (UVa) def. Tony Lupieri (BU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVa) def. #110 Michel Dornbusch (BU) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5
Order of Finish: 5,3,1,2,6,4