No. 2 Virginia Downs Monmouth 4-0 in NCAA First Round
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Box Score May 12, 2017
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s tennis team (29-1) opened up the 2017 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship with a 4-0 victory over Monmouth (13-12) on Friday (May 12) on the indoor courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
With the victory, the Cavaliers advance to the second round of the tournament where they will take on No. 23 Columbia (18-4) on Saturday, May 13 at 1 p.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center outdoor courts. The winner of that match will advance to the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., where the final 16 teams will compete for the national championship May 18-23.
“This was a great start for us,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “It is always tough to play the first match. I thought the guys came out with a ton of energy and they did a great job of focusing through the entire match. I love the way they competed. We are looking forward to playing a really tough Columbia team tomorrow. Columbia has been one of the top programs in the country for a long time and we are going to have to be ready to play. They are really good. They had a great match today that couldn’t have been any closer and they came out on top.”
The Cavaliers picked up the double point after senior Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) and freshman Carl Soderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) picked up a 6-1 victory at No. 1. Junior Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) and senior J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) clinched the point with a 6-2 victory on Court 3.
In singles, Aragone breezed through a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Alberto Giuffrida at No. 5. Senior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) followed with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Przemyslaw Filipek on Court 2. Altamirano clinched the victory and ended the match with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Christian Vieira on Court 4.
The match, which was played on the indoor courts because of rain, lasted just 90 minutes. In the first match of the day, however, Columbia battled No. 41 Purdue for three hours and 10 minutes to pick up a 4-2 victory and advance to the second round. Only two of the six singles matches were decided in straight sets. The Lions won the doubles point, but Purdue battled back to tie the match 2-2. Columbia’s Victor Pham picked up a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victoy over Ricky Medinillaon Court 2 to put his team up 3-2. Despite the Lions lead, the Boilermakers seemed to be in control in the remaining two singles matches. Jackie Tang trailed 5-4 in the third set and was facing match point, while Adam Ambrozy trailed 2-0 in the third set. Tang was able to come through, stopping Benjamin Urgarte’s run and then breaking his serve to take a 6-5 lead. The rookie served his way to a Columbia win, earning the 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory as the Lions prevailed.
Admission is free for all UVA home tennis matches and free parking is available at the Culbreth Garage. Parking is also available at the Central Grounds Garage (hourly rates apply). Live scoring will be available on VirginiaSports.com. There will not be live streaming video for Saturday’s match.
Virginia, the defending national champion, has won three of the last four NCAA titles (2013, 2015 and 2016) and has reached the semifinals in nine of the last 10 seasons. UVA has advanced to the Round of 16 each of the last 13 years and the quarterfinals 12-straight times. The Cavaliers, who have won the ITA National Team Indoor and ACC titles this season, are 56-10 in the NCAA Tournament under head coach Brian Boland.
#2 Virginia 4, Monmouth 0
Singles competition
1. #91 Alexander Ritschard (VA) vs. Nicola Pipoli (MU) 6-2, 2-2, unfinished
2. #14 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Przemyslaw Filipek (MU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Carl Soderlund (VA) vs. Ale Gomez Estrada (MU) 6-4, 4-2, unfinished
4. #40 Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Christian Vieira (MU) 6-0, 6-1
5. #109 J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Alberto Giuffrida (MU) 6-1, 6-1
6. #102 Henrik Wiersholm (VA) vs. Sergio Martinez (MU) 6-1, 5-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #17 Luca Corinteli/Carl Soderlund (VA) def. Przemyslaw Filipek/Ale Gomez Estrada (MU) 6-1
2. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Alexander Ritschard (VA) vs. Nicola Pipoli/Alberto Giuffrida (MU) 5-2, unfinished
3. Collin Altamirano/J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Christian Vieira/Vikrant Dahiya (MU) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,2,4)
NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship First Round Charlottesville Regional
T-1:30 A-277