Virginia Edged By Virginia Tech, 4-3
April 22, 2018
Final Stats | 2018 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship Bracket
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 43 Virginia men’s tennis team (12-11, 5-7 ACC) closed out the regular season with a 4-3 loss at No. 37 Virginia Tech (17-6, 7-5 ACC) on Sunday (April 22) at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg, Va.
Virginia Tech picked up the doubles point, but Virginia rallied in singles to win on three courts to take a 3-2 lead. The Hokies tied things up, 3-3, with a win at No. 2 singles. The match’s outcome was determined in a tiebreaker, 7-4, to decide the third set on court three.
The Hokies won a pair of close matches in doubles, with 6-4 and 7-5 victories on courts one and two, respectively, to take the 1-0 lead.
Redshirt freshman Ammar Alhaqbani (Alexandria, Va.) tied the match with a quick 6-3, 6-4 victory over Freddy Mesmer on court six. Virginia Tech countered with a two-set victory on court one to go up 2-1. The other four singles courts split their first sets and were decided in third sets. Freshman Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) won his first set 6-3 and rallied to win his third set by the same tally after being edged 7-2 in a tiebreaker to determine the second set to tie the match at two. Freshman Kyrylo Tsygura (North Potomac, Md.) gave UVA a 3-2 lead when he finished off a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory on court four. The Hokies knotted the match, 3-3, with a win on court two.
On court three, Lizen dropped his first set, 6-2, but won his second, 6-2, against Alex Ribeiro. Ribeiro picked up an early break to lead in the third set, but Lizen broke back to put the match back on serve at 3-3. Both players held through 6-6 to force a tiebreaker to determine the match. Lizen trailed 6-2 in the tiebreaker, but won two-straight points to make it 6-4, but Ribeiro held on to win the tiebreaker, 7-4.
The match was part of the Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529, a head-to-head, points-based competition between the athletic teams at University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly, statewide rivalry between the two schools across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line. The school that accumulates 11 points or more will be crowned the winner and take home the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy. A point was available for today’s game, the updated score is Virginia Tech – 10.5, Virginia – 6.5. Visit www.TheCommonwealthClash.com for more information and updated standings.
The postseason begins next week for the Cavaliers who will travel to Cary, N.C. to compete in the 2018 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship, being held April 25-29 at the Cary Tennis Center. The Cavaliers will be the No. 9 seed and will open the tournament by facing No. 8 Louisville a second-round match on Thursday, April 26 at 2:30 p.m. Ticket information is available on TheACC.com.
#37 Virginia Tech 4, #43 Virginia
Singles competition
1. #37 Mitch Harper (VT) def. #27 Carl Soderlund (VA) 6-2, 6-4
2. Jason Kros (VT) def. Gianni Ross (VA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
3. Alex Ribeiro (VT) def. #32 Aswin Lizen (VA) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
4. Kyrylo Tsygura (VA) def. Henrik Korsgaard (VT) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
5. Matthew Lord (VA) def. Carlo Donato (VT) 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3
6. Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) def. Freddy Mesmer (VT) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #61 Henrik Korsgaard/Alex Ribeiro (VT) def. #43 Carl Soderlund/Matthew Lord (VA) 6-4
2. Carlo Donato/Mitch Harper (VT) def. #32 Aswin Lizen/Gianni Ross (VA) 7-5
3. Ammar Alhaqbani/Spencer Bozsik (VA) vs. Abraham Asaba/Jason Kros (VT) 5-5, unf.
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,1,5,4,2,3)
T-3:19