No. 4 Virginia Tops South Florida, 4-3
TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 4 Virginia men’s tennis team (10-2) returned to action with a 4-3 victory over South Florida (7-5) on Sunday (March 10) in Tampa, Fla.
USF won the doubles point, but the Cavaliers picked up singles victories on courts two through five to down the Bulls, 4-3. Junior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) clinched the victory with a win at five singles.
USF opened the match with 6-4 and 6-3 victories at one and two doubles to take a 1-0 lead.
Senior Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) tied the match, 1-1, with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Pierre Luquet on singles court three. Freshman Brandon Nakashima (San Diego, Calif.) gave UVA a 2-1 lead with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Chase Ferguson on court two. USF tied the match 2-2 with a win on court one, but sophomore Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) edged the Cavaliers back into the lead, 3-2, with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory on court four over Jakub Wojcik. USF’s Sergio Gomez Montesa rebounded from a first-set loss to win his final two sets on court six to tie the match at three.
On court five, Lizen had won his first set, 6-4, over Ivan Yatsuk, but Yatsuk turned the tables and took the second set by that same score. In the third set, Yatsuk jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Lizen won five-straight games to win the set, 6-3, and secure the victory for the Cavaliers.
The match was the first action for the Cavaliers since their final match of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Feb. 17.
The Cavaliers close out their trip to Florida by facing UCF (7-5) on Tuesday, March 12 at 1 p.m. at the UCF Collegiate Tennis Center at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. Live streaming video and live stats will be available through links posted on VirginiaSports.com.