Virginia Topples No. 18 Notre Dame
March 18, 2018
Charlottesville, Va. – The Virginia men’s tennis team (9-5, 2-1 ACC) finished a weekend sweep of ACC opponents on Sunday (March 18) with a 6-1 victory against No. 18 Notre Dame (10-8, 2-1) at the Snyder Tennis Center. UVA opened its weekend slate with a 5-2 victory against Boston College on Friday.
Playing its first outdoor match of the spring, Virginia took charge from the start, picking up the doubles point and momentum that carried over into singles play.
After splitting the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, UVA collected the day’s first point when its No. 1 tandem of junior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) and freshman Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) downed Notre Dame’s 55th-ranked team of Brendon Kempin and Tristan McCormick 7-5.
“That (doubles) is their best point, in my opinion,” said Virginia coach Andres Pedroso. “If we get the doubles point from Notre Dame, it’s still a war and we’ve got a long way to go, but I’m definitely feeling better.”
Ross quickly dispatched Richard Ciamarra 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles to set up the first of three straight-set singles wins that resulted in the points necessary to clinch the victory.
Shortly afterward, on the No. 4 singles court, freshman Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) handed McCormick a 6-4, 6-2 loss to give UVA a commanding 3-0 lead before Notre Dame’s Matt Gamble posted the Irish lone win with a 6-4, 6-2 decision against redshirt freshman Ammar Alhaqbani (Alexandria, Va.). Freshman Kyrylo Tsygura (North Potomac, Va.) clinched the win for the Cavaliers with a 6-2, 6-3 performance against William Howells in the No. 6 singles position.
UVA’s Lizen, ranked No. 28, recorded his 23rd win of the season (23-3) with a 6-4, 6-1 win versus Guillermo Cabrera at No. 3 singles.
Sophomore Carl Söderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) capped off the match with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 win at No. 1 singles against Notre Dame’s 33rd-ranked Alex Lebedev.
“He (Söderlund) is a really good tennis player and the guy is one of the best competitors in the country,” Pedroso said. “Having him at one is just good for the team confidence wise. Seeing that guy on the number-one court gives everybody a little bit of comfort because he is such a great player and he is a great competitor.”
Virginia travels to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Friday and then plays at Clemson next Sunday.
Virginia 6, Notre Dame 1Singles competition 1. Carl Söderlund (VA) def. #33 Alex Lebedev (ND) 7-6 (7-4), 7-52. Gianni Ross (VA) def. Richard Ciamarra (ND) 6-2, 6-23. #28 Aswin Lizen (VA) def. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) 6-4, 6-14. Matthew Lord (VA) def. Tristan McCormick (ND) 6-4, 6-25. Matt Gamble (ND) def. Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) 6-4, 6-26. Kyrylo Tsygura (VA) def. William Howells (ND) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition 1. Aswin Lizen/Gianni Ross (VA) def. #55 Brendon Kempin/Tristan McCormick (ND) 7-52. Carl Soderlund/Matthew Lord (VA) def. Richard Ciamarra/ Matt Gamble (ND) 6-43. Guillermo Cabrera/ Alex Lebedev (ND) def. Ammar Alhaqbani/Spencer Bozsik (VA) 6-3
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