No. 5 Virginia Downs Georgia Tech, 4-0
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team (13-3, 4-2 ACC) picked up a 4-0 victory over No. 44 Georgia Tech (8-7, 3-3 ACC) on Friday (March 22) at the Snyder Tennis Center.
The Cavaliers won the doubles point and picked up victories on singles courts one, three and five to down the Yellow Jackets on a chilly and blustery day in Charlottesville. Sophomore Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) clinched the victory for the Cavaliers with a win on court five.
“It was tough conditions for both teams to play in and I thought the guys handled it really well,” said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso. “We practiced outside a lot in this weather over the past couple of months, so I thought we were ready. Everybody competed hard. I felt in doubles, we made some strides from last week. We are looking good. We just need to keep working, keep our heads down and stay focused.”
Sophomore Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) and senior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) got the match started by picking up a 6-3 victory at three doubles. Lord and junior Carl Soderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) clinched the doubles point by winning their match on court two by the same 6-3 margin.
In singles, Söderlund breezed through his match on court one, downing No. 30 Carlos Divar 6-1, 6-2, less than five minutes after the match on court four had finished its first set. Senior Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) picked up a break to close out his 6-1, 6-4 victory over Andrew Li on court three to give UVA a 3-0 lead.
Moments after Wiersholm finished off his set, a rainstorm blew into the area, sending the match into a delay. The rains passed quickly and the players returned to the court 40 minutes later, resuming play outdoors. Seventeen minutes later, Lord wrapped up his 7-5, 6-4 victory over Pablo Schelcher and play was abandoned on the remaining three courts.
Both Ross and Lizen had lost their first sets, but rallied in their second sets and were beginning their third sets. Freshman Brandon Nakashima (San Diego, Calif.) had also battled in his match on court two, winning his first set, 6-4, before being edged 6-4 by Phillip Gresk in the second, to force a third set.
The match was the Cavaliers’ first home outdoor match of the season and their first home match since February 8.
Virginia closes out the weekend by hosting Clemson (8-11, 1-5 ACC) on Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m.