Virginia Downs Eastern Kentucky, 6-1
Feb. 3, 2018
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s tennis team (3-2) picked up a 6-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky (2-6) on Saturday (February 3) at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
The Cavaliers won the doubles point and picked up wins on singles courts one through five. Freshman Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) clinched the team win with a victory on four singles.
“I thought we made some fundamental improvements in doubles,” said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso. “I thought our positioning was improved today. We made some better decisions. Shot selection was something we talked a lot about in practice this week. In singles, everybody did their job. We had a couple of lapses here and there, but I feel we did a good job today.”
In doubles, the Cavaliers won 6-2 on courts one and three and were leading 5-2 with a 30-0 lead in the final game on court two when play was abandoned.
In singles, redshirt freshman Ammar Alhaqbani (Alexandria, Va.) started things off with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over Gabriel Ruiz. Freshman Kyrylo Tsygura (North Potomac, Md.) followed with a quick 6-0, 6-2 victory over Josh Piunti on court five. Lord clinched the victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Carlos Dodero. Moments later, freshman Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) closed out a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 2 over Parth Aggarwal.
Freshman Spencer Bozsik (Charlottesville, Va.) and Nicolas Castaldo battled on court six. Bozsik won the first set, 6-3, but Castaldo picked up a late break in the second set to win 7-5. The two were tied 9-9 in the 10-point tiebreaker, but Castlado won the final two points to take the match and give the Colonels a point.
On court one, junior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) was edged 6-4 in his first set by Ramon van Flymen, but dominated 6-0 in the second set. The two battled through the third set with Lizen coming up with a 6-4 victory to close out the match.
The Cavaliers finish off the weekend by hosting Kentucky (5-2) on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 12 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
Admission is free for all Virginia home tennis matches. Please note that due to construction, parking will be limited at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. Fans are encouraged to arrive early. Live scoring and streaming video will be available through a link on VirginiaSports.com.
Virginia 6, Eastern Kentucky 1
Singles competition
1. #40 Aswin Lizen (VA) def. Ramon van Flymen 4-6, 6-0, 6-4
2. Gianni Ross (VA) def. Parth Aggarwal (EKU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) def. Gabriel Ruiz (EKU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Matthew Lord (VA) def. Carlos Dodero (EKU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Kyrylo Tsygura (VA) def. Josh Piunti (EKU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Nicolas Castaldo (EKU) def. Spencer Bozsik (VA) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (9)
Doubles competition
1. Matthew Lord/Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) def. Parth Aggarwal/Gabriel Ruiz (EKU) 6-2
2. Aswin Lizen/Spencer Bozsik (VA) vs. Ramon van Flymen/Carlos Dodero (EKU) 5-2, unfinished
3. Gianni Ross/Kyrylo Tsygura (VA) def. Juan Soria/Eduardo Cabral (EKU) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,5,4,2,6,1)
T-2:10 A-207