Eighth-Ranked Men's Tennis Downs Fourth-Ranked Duke 6-1

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Box Score March 29, 2015

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 8 Virginia men’s tennis team posted its highest-ranked win of the season, downing fourth-ranked Duke 6-1 Sunday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (14-3, 7-0 ACC) extended their win streak to five matches, while the Blue Devils (17-3, 4-2 ACC) saw their four-match win streak snapped.

“I really want to thank the crowd that gave us a great atmosphere to play in today,” said head coach Brian Boland. “It was a great day of tennis and we are happy to get a win over a tremendous Duke team. I am glad that we were able to get to play at Snyder in front of what I consider the best fans in college tennis.”

The win extended Virginia’s win streak against conference opponents (regular season and tournaments) to 131 consecutive matches, the longest streak in ACC history in any sport.

Virginia opened the match with an impressive performance in doubles, losing just six total games over the three courts. Mitchell Frank (Annandale, Va.) and Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) gave the Cavaliers an early edge by downing Chris Mengel and Bruno Semenzato 8-1 at the No. 3 position. Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.) and Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) clinched the opening point with an 8-3 win at No. 1 over Nicolas Alvarez and Raphael Hemmeler.

“We played some tremendous doubles,” said Boland. “We continue to get better every day in doubles. The guys have really embraced that part of our program. Luca continues to lead our team in doubles and he and Ryan are playing at a really high level at No. 1.”

In singles, the Cavaliers doubled their lead as Altamirano posted a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Semenzato at the No. 4 position. The Blue Devils recorded their lone point of the day with a win at No. 3 where Hemmeler defeated Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) 7-5, 6-1, to cut the advantage to 2-1. J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) rallied from dropping the first set to down Josh Levine 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 to make the score 3-1. Shane clinched the victory as he completed a 7-6(3), 7-5 win at No. 2 over Jason Tahir.

The final score was 6-1 after the Cavaliers won the final two matches on the courts. Frank topped Alvarez 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 1 position before Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) concluded the day with a 6-7(2), 6-3, 10-2 win at No. 6 over TJ Pura.

“I was really impressed with a lot of players today,” said Boland. “Mitchell is such a great leader and gave us a lot of energy on the court today. I was pleased with how Ryan stayed composed at the end. He was serving to close out the match, had triple-matchpoint and got broken, but came right back and broke to serve it out again. That isn’t easy to do. It was also great to see Henrik get the win at the end as he played an impressive tiebreaker.”

The Cavaliers continue their homestand on Saturday as they host William and Mary in their final non-conference game of the season. Match time at the Snyder Tennis Center is 2 p.m.

#8 VIRGINIA 6, #4 DUKE 1

Doubles:
1. #8 Shane/Corinteli (UVa) def. #12 Alvarez/Hemmeler (Duke) 8-3
2. #54 Styslinger/Kwiatkowski (UVa) vs. Levine/Tahir (Duke) 7-2 DNF
3. Altamirano/Frank (UVa) def. Mengel/Semenzato (Duke) 8-1
Order of Finish: 3,1

Singles:
1. #29 Mitchell Frank (UVa) def. #11 Nicolas Alvarez (Duke) 7-5, 6-3
2. #6 Ryan Shane (UVa) def. #41 Jason Tahir (Duke) 7-6(3), 7-5
3. #101 Raphael Hemmeler (Duke) def. #10 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVa) 7-5, 6-1
4. #55 Collin Altamirano (UVa) def. Bruno Semenzato (Duke) 6-1, 6-4
5. J.C. Aragone (UVa) def. Josh Levine (Duke) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. Henrik Wiersholm (UVa) def. TJ Pura (Duke) 6-7(2), 6-3, 10-2
Order of Finish: 4,3,5,2,1,6