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No. 3 Virginia (25-1, 11-1 ACC) at 2017 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship
Date & Time April 28, 11 a.m. / April 29, 10 a.m. (semis) / April 30, 10 a.m. (finals)
Location Rome, Ga. | Rome Tennis Center at Berry College
Coverage Friday Live Scoring | Saturday Live Scoring | Sunday Live Scoring | ACC Network Extra Streaming Video (Sun.)
Tournament Information ACC Championship Website | Tickets | Virginia Notes (.pdf) | Tournament Bracket
Additional Information Twitter | Coach Boland Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

April 26, 2017

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia men’s tennis team (25-1, 11-1 ACC) will be vying for its 12th conference title at the 2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Tennis Championship being held April 26-30 at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in Rome, Ga.

The Cavaliers, who earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will open play in the quarterfinals, facing 7-seed Louisville (21-8, 6-6 ACC) on Friday, April 28 at 11 a.m.

Live scoring will be available for all matches through the conference’s website (TheACC.com). Live streaming video will be available for Saturday’s semifinal that features the highest-remaining seed and Sunday’s final as an ACC Network Extra production. Shawn Kenney will handle play-by-play at the championship with ESPN anchor Prim Siripipat handling color commentary.

The Cavaliers closed out the regular season with four-straight shutout victories. UVA swept in eight of their 11 ACC matches this season and three of the four matches in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

The Cavaliers have two singles players who completed the regular-season undefeated. Freshman Carl Söderlund (Stockholm, Sweden), the top player in the ITA National Freshman/Newcomer rankings this year, has started his career with a 13-0 record, including a 7-0 mark in conference matches. Junior Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) is 19-0 this season in singles. He has won 23-consecutive singles matches, dating back to his four wins in Tulsa last year during the 2016 NCAA Team Championship. In the last two seasons, Wiersholm is a combined 44-2.

Additionally, UVA has two 20-match winners in duals this season in seniors Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) and Alexander Ritschard (Zurich, Switzerland). Both players have a 20-3 record in duals this year.

All six players in the Cavaliers’ singles lineup are currently ranked. Kwitatkowski leads the team with a No. 15 ranking, followed by junior Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) at No. 46, Ritschard at No. 90, Wiersholm at No. 95, Södeerlund at No. 109 and senior J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) at No. 117.

The Cavaliers come into the tournament with a 131-24 mark in singles matches, which is an .845 winning percentage. The percentage improves in dual matches to .878 with 115 wins to only 16 losses. In comparison with other top-ranked teams, Wake Forest has a .745 singles winning percentage in duals (108-37) while UNC is at .787 (11-30). Ohio State is the only other top-ranked team with a singles winning percentage above .800 with the Buckeyes at .838 (114-22). The Cavaliers’ top singles winning percentage in recent seasons was a .795 mark (194-50) during the 2015 NCAA Championship season.

The Cavaliers won the doubles point in 22 of 26 matches this season. UVA dropped the doubles point in their first two matches of the season (at Vanderbilt and Kentucky) and then won it in 15 straight before being topped by Wake Forest in doubles. North Carolina also took the doubles point in their match against the Cavaliers. Kwiatkowski and Ritschard are 17-1 this season as a doubles team.

The winner of Friday’s quarterfinal will advance to a 10 a.m. semifinal on Saturday (April 29) against the winner of North Carolina and its opponent (either Miami or Duke). The championship match is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 30.

Tickets for a championship pass are $16 for adults and $12 for children (9+) and seniors (+55) with children under eight and college students of ACC Schools (with a valid I.D.) free. Single day tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children (9+) and seniors (+55) with children under eight and college students of ACC Schools (with a valid I.D.) free. Tickets may be purchased in advance online or purchased on site at the championship.

The tournament champion will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The complete NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Tuesday, May 2 at 5 p.m. in a live-streaming selection show on NCAA.com. NCAA Regionals begin on Friday, May 12 at host sites. The NCAA Round of 16 begins on Thursday, May 18 in Athens, Ga.

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