No. 4 Cavaliers Post 6-1 Victory Over No. 13 Hokies
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Box Score April 5, 2015
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 4 Virginia men’s tennis team remained unbeaten in ACC play with a 6-1 victory over No. 13 Virginia Tech Sunday at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (16-3, 8-0 ACC) extended their winning streak to seven matches while handing the Hokies’ (16-3, 7-2 ACC) just their second conference loss of the season.
The win extended Virginia’s win streak against conference opponents (regular season and tournaments) to 132 consecutive matches, the longest streak in ACC history in any sport.
“I was pleased with the overall performance today,” said head coach Brian Boland. “Virginia Tech showed why they are a top-15 team, if not better. They are solid from top to bottom. We had all the momentum, winning doubles and six first sets, but they never gave up. We had to overcome a little adversity today and I was happy with how we responded to that.”
Virginia won the doubles point for the 10th consecutive match to take a 1-0 lead. Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.) and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) gave the Cavaliers the early edge with an 8-5 win at No. 2 over Amerigo Contini and Jai Corbett. Virginia clinched the opening point as Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) and Mitchell Frank (Annandale, Va.) topped Joao Monteiro and Edoardo Tessaro 8-4 at the No. 3 position.
In singles, the Cavaliers captured all six first sets and closed out straight-set wins at the top three positions to clinch the victory. Kwiatkowski extended the advantage to 2-0 as he downed Monteiro 7-6(4), 6-0 at No. 3 singles. Shane followed with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2 over Contini. Frank sealed the win with his victory at No. 1, defeating Andreas Bjerrehus 6-4, 6-4.
The Hokies rallied to force a decisive third set on the bottom three courts. Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) downed Corbett 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 6 singles to extend the lead to 5-0. At No. 5, J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) posted a 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3 win over Tessaro for the sixth Cavalier point of the afternoon. Virginia Tech’s lone point of the day came at No. 4 where Hunter Koontz rallied for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Styslinger.
“Missing Collin and Alex (Ritschard) in singles, I was pleased with how the guys stepped up,” said Boland. “Alex is continuing to get better and is getting close to being back. Collin had a stomach bug and was able to play doubles, but not singles today. I thought the team responded well to having to reshuffle the lineup a little bit.”
The match was sponsored by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of University of Virginia Athletics. With the victory, the Cavaliers earned one point in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash and now lead the competition 8.5-6.5. Learn more about Virginia529 and this new competition at TheCommmonwealthClash.com.
The Cavaliers continue their homestand on Friday as they host Georgia Tech. Match time at the Snyder Tennis Center is 3 p.m.
#4 VIRGINIA 6, #13 VIRGINIA TECH 1
Doubles:
1. #8 Corinteli/Shane (UVa) vs. #64 Bjerrehus/Koontz (VT) 7-6 DNF
2. #54 Kwiatkowski/Styslinger (UVa) def. Contini/Corbett (VT) 8-5
3. Altamirano/Frank (UVa) def. Monteiro/Tessaro (VT) 8-4
Order of Finish: 2,3
Singles:
1. #29 Mitchell Frank (UVa) def. #45 Andreas Bjerrehus (VT) 6-4, 6-4
2. #6 Ryan Shane (UVa) def. #63 Amerigo Contini (VT) 6-3, 6-4
3. #10 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (UVa) def. #109 Joao Monteiro (VT) 7-6(4), 6-0
4. Hunter Koontz (VT) def. #112 Mac Styslinger (UVa) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. J.C. Aragone (UVa) def. Edoardo Tessaro (VT) 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-3
6. Henrik Wiersholm (UVa) def. Jai Corbett (VT) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 3,2,1,6,5,4