Cavaliers Roll to 4-0 Win Over TCU in ITA Indoor Opener
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Box Score Feb. 13, 2015
CHICAGO – The third-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2015 ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a 4-0 victory over No. 17 TCU Friday morning at the Midtown Athletic Club. The Cavaliers (6-0) will meet Baylor Saturday in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
“It’s always good to get through the first match of the tournament, particularly against a team as good as TCU,” said head coach Brian Boland. “We really had to battle throughout the doubles point, but that was critical because we were up in all three matches and they kept battling and it became pretty interesting. I thought it was critical to pull that out. In singles, the momentum shifted a little bit here and there, but I thought our guys did a good job hanging in there and playing through the adversity.”
The Cavaliers took an early 1-0 lead by winning a tight doubles point. Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) and Mitchell Frank (Annandale, Va.) gave UVa the early edge with a 6-4 win at No. 3 over Hudson Blake and Trevor Johnson. The Horned Frogs drew even with a win at No. 1 where Will Stein and Nick Chappell rallied for a 7-5 win over Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) and Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.). The opening point came down to a tiebreaker at No. 2 where Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) and Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.) downed Guillermo Nunez and Cameron Norrie 7-6(2) to give Virginia the lead.
The top of the Virginia lineup posted straight-set singles wins to seal the victory. Kwiatkowski, the nation’s top-ranked player, cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 3 over Arnau Dachs. Frank earned his highest-ranked win of the season, downing 18th-ranked Norrie 6-3, 6-4 at the top position. Shane, currently ranked No. 4 nationally, closed out the Cavalier victory with his 7-6(1), 6-3 win at No. 2 over No. 48 Chappell.
Baylor, the No. 11 seed, upset sixth-seeded Duke, 4-1, in the first round. The Cavaliers and Bears last met in the quarterfinals of last year’s NCAA Tournament, a 4-0 Virginia victory in Atlanta.
Match time for the Virginia-Baylor quarterfinal is 1 p.m. ET. There will be live scoring and video available on ITATennis.com.
#3 VIRGINIA 4, #17 TCU 0
Doubles:
1. ##24 Stein/Chappell (TCU) def. #37 Corinteli/Shane (UVa) 7-5
2. #41 Kwiatkowski/Styslinger (UVa) def. Nunez/Norrie (TCU) 7-6(2)
3. Altamirano/Frank (UVa) def. Blake/Johnson (TCU) 6-4
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
Singles:
1. Mitchell Frank (UVa) def. #18 Cameron Norrie (TCU) 6-3, 6-4
2. #4 Ryan Shane (UVa) def. #48 Nick Chappell (TCU) 7-6(1), 6-3
3. #1 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVa) def. Arnau Dachs (TCU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Alexander Ritschard (UVa) vs. Will Stein (TCU) 6-1, 6-7, 0-0 DNF
5. J.C. Aragone (UVa) vs. #85 Facundo Lugones (TCU) 6-4, 5-6 DNF
6. #61 Mac Styslinger (UVa) vs. #112 Guillermo Nunez (TCU) 3-6, 6-6 DNF
Order of Finish: 3,1,2