Pair of Cavaliers Advance to Round of 16 of NCAA Singles Championship
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May 21, 2015
WACO, Texas – The Virginia men’s tennis team had two players advance to the round of 16 of the 2015 NCAA Singles Championship during second round action Thursday at the Hurd Tennis Center. Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.) and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) both posted singles victories, but the duo of Shane and Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) lost in the opening round of the NCAA Doubles Championship.
Shane, the tournament’s No 8 seed, cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Benajmin Lock of Florida State in the second round. After falling behind 2-0 in the first set, Shane answered by winning nine straight games to go up a set and a break. He broke Lock one more time en route to closing out the straight-set victory. He will play Jeremy Efferding of Texas A&M in the round of 16.
Kwiatkowski earned All-America honors for the first time in his career by reaching the round of 16 with a three-set win over Denis Nguyen of Harvard. He jumped out to a quick start, taking a 3-0 lead, and held serve the rest of the way to take the opening set 6-3. The second set was tied at 2-2 before Nguyen won the final four games to draw even at one set apiece. The final set remained on serve until Kwiatakowski broke to take a 5-4 lead. He held serve in the ensuing game to close out the 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory. In the round of 16 he will play Tony Lupieri of Baylor, who upset top-seeded Axel Alvarez of Oklahoma in the second round.
The pair of Shane and Corinteli, the No. 3 seed in the doubles draw, were upset in the first round by Harry Jadun and John Patrick Mullane of Michigan State, 6-1, 6-7(4), 7-5. The Cavalier duo got off to a slow start, losing six straight games in the first set after holding to open the match. The teams traded breaks several times in the second set before it went to a breaker, which Shane and Corinteli won to force a third set. The Spartan duo went up a break to open the final set and held that advantage until the Cavaliers broke back for 3-3. Jadun and Mullane got another break at 5-5 and served the match out the ensuing game.
Live scoring and video of the NCAA Singles Championship is available on NCAA.com.