No. 3 Virginia Faces No. 27 NC State, No. 2 Wake on the Road
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 3 Virginia men’s tennis team (11-2) returns to conference action this weekend, heading to North Carolina to play a pair of ACC matches against ranked teams. The Cavaliers will take on No. 27 NC State (10-5, 1-0 ACC) on Friday, March 15 at 5 p.m. in Raleigh and then close out the trip by facing No. 2 Wake Forest (15-3, 2-0 ACC) on Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. in Winston-Salem.
Live scoring and live streaming video will be available for both matches through links posted on VirginiaSports.com.
The Cavaliers, who moved up to No. 3 in this week’s Oracle ITA Rankings, are coming off a pair of victories on a swing through the Sunshine State, edging South Florida on Sunday, 4-3, and winning 4-1 at UCF on Tuesday. Both senior Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) and sophomore Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) went 2-0 in singles on the road trip, with Wiersholm clinching the victory at UCF. Senior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) had a dramatic victory at No. 6 singles at USF, winning his last five games of the third set to secure the team victory for the Cavaliers.
Despite back-to-back losses to No. 30 Oklahoma and No. 3 Texas, NC State moved up from No. 35 to No. 27 in this week’s Oracle ITA rankings. Junior Alexis Galarneau is currently No. 25 in the singles rankings after posting a 9-3 record through the first two months of the 2019 season. The Wolfpack junior has picked up five victories over ranked opponents this season.
Friday’s match against the Wolfpack originally was to be played at the Cary Tennis Park, the site of the ACC championship matches, but was moved back to NC State’s home facility in Raleigh due to the threat of inclement weather.
This will be the second meeting of the year between the Cavaliers and Demon Deacons. In a non-conference match in Charlottesville on February 8, then-No. 13 Virginia stunned then-No. 1 Wake Forest, 5-2. Wake Forest won the doubles point, but the Cavaliers won five of six singles matches to defeat the 2018 NCAA Champions. Lizen clinched the victory for UVA with his win on court six.
Wake Forest is coming off a 5-2 loss at No. 8 Florida on Wednesday. The Demon Deacons will host Louisville on Friday before facing Virginia on Sunday. Petros Chrysochos, the No. 2 singles player in the nation, suffered his first loss of the spring on Wednesday and is 20-2 overall this season. No. 21 Bar Botzer is 24-5 this season and 11-1 in dual action with his only loss this spring coming against UVA freshman Brandon Nakashima (San Diego, Calif.).
Virginia is 56-14 all-time against NC State, and has won the last 20 meetings. UVA holds a 62-22 advantage over Wake Forest.
The Cavaliers return home next week, hosting Georgia Tech on Friday, March 22 at 3 p.m. and Clemson on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m. Both matches are slated to be played outdoors at the Snyder Tennis