Ryan Shane Advances on Day One of NCAA Singles Championship
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May 21, 2014
ATHENS, Ga. – The Virginia men’s tennis team had three players in action Wednesday as the NCAA Singles Championship began at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Sophomore Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.) advanced to the second round, while junior Mitchell Frank (Annandale, Va.) and senior Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) suffered first-round upsets.
Shane, making his debut in the NCAA Singles Championship, posted a 6-3, 6-3 win over Andrew Bettles of Boise State. Shane used one break of serve, midway through the first set, to take a lead in the match. In the second set, he broke Bettles in the opening game and held that advantage until breaking Bettles again to close out the match. Shane will play second-seeded Marcos Giron of UCLA in the second round Thursday.
Domijan, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, suffered a 6-7(4), 7-6(12), 6-4 loss to Leandro Toledo of Minnesota. The first two sets saw no breaks of service as both went to tiebreakers. Domijan won the first-set breaker and had five match points in the epic second-set breaker, but Toledo rallied to win the breaker and the set. Toledo recorded the only break of the match to take a 2-1 lead in the final set and held serve the rest of the way to defeat Domijan.
Domijan ends his career with 128 singles wins, fifth most in Virginia history. As a seeded player in the NCAA Singles Championship, Domijan will earn All-American honors to become the first four-time ITA Singles All-American in Virginia history.
Frank, the tournament’s No. 4 seed, lost 6-2, 7-5 to Mackenzie McDonald of UCLA. After losing the first set, Frank went up a break, 3-1, in the second set, only to have McDonald break back in the next game. With McDonald serving at 4-5 in the second set, Frank had a set point that was saved. McDonald held serve and broke Frank in the ensuing game before serving out the match.
Frank will also earn All-American honors by being a seeded player. It is the second time in his career he will receive the honor.
The NCAA Singles Championship continues through Monday at the University of Georgia.