The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team (7-0) defeated No. 10 Wake Forest, 4-3, in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Men’s Team Indoor Championship being held Feb. 12-15 at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
With the match tied 3-3, the outcome was decided at No. 6 singles. Sophomore Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) had won his first set against Christian Seraphim but dropped his second, 6-3. The two players traded breaks before Wiersholm again went up a break and was serving for the match with a 5-3 lead. The game went to deuce with Wiersholm serving up an ace for the final point to close out the victory for the Cavaliers.
“I had just fought back from down 40-15 to get it to deuce for a match point and coach told me to look to my best serve and hit it,” Wiersholm said. “My favorite serve on the ad side is the Slider-T. I hit the Slider-T, which hit the tape and barely went over. I couldn’t believe it. I turned to my teammates and let it loose with all the happiness and excitement. It was a really special moment.”
The victory sends the Cavaliers into the semifinals where they will take on TCU on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 3:30 p.m.North Carolina and UCLA will play in Sunday’s other semifinal.
“This was a really exciting college tennis match,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “It is the type of challenge that we need this early in the year. The guys passed the test in some very difficult situations. I give great credit to Wake Forest as they are an outstanding team and played their hearts out. It’s great for the ACC and for tennis in general to have this level of excitement at a match. The fans were absolutely amazing today. We appreciate so much the enthusiasm and excitement they brought to the match. They really did make a difference and we certainly hope they will come out again tomorrow for the semis.”
The Cavaliers went into singles trailing 1-0 after dropping the doubles point. Senior Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.) and junior Thai-Son Kwiakowski won 6-3 at No. 2 doubles, but both the team of senior Ryan Shane (Falls Church, Va.) and junior Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) at No. 1 and the tandem of sophomore Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) and J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) at No. 3 lost tiebreakers to fall 7-6 in their matches and give Wake a 1-0 lead.
The Cavaliers quickly rebounded in singles with Shane and Aragone both quickly winning matches to put UVA up 2-1. Altamirano put the Cavaliers a point away from victory with his 6-2, 6-3 win over Jon Ho at No. 3, but Wake won at second and fourth singles to tie the match just as the sixth court headed into its third set.
“The doubles point got away from us after we had match points to clinch the doubles point at No. 3 and we dropped a breaker when we had a chance to close out the match at No. 1,” Boland said. “It was a heartbreaker to lose the doubles point, but I was impressed with how we continued to compete, particularly with Ryan Shane, Collin Altamirano and J.C. Aragone. They were locked in and played every point and really played within themselves and played tremendous tennis. It was fantastic to see Henrik Wiersholm, who has really developed his game, to be put in the opportunity he was. He embraced the pressure and the environment and played his best tennis toward the end of the match when it mattered most.”
The win extended Virginia’s win streak against conference opponents (regular season and tournaments) to 140 consecutive matches, the longest streak in ACC history in any sport.
The ITA National Indoors field includes the top-16 teams in the latest ITA rankings. Dual matches are scheduled at 9 a.m., 12 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday with the championship match set for 11 a.m. on Monday. Each of the 16 teams is guaranteed three matches during the championship. Fans can attend the four-day championship free of charge.
No. 1 Virginia 4, No. 10 Wake Forest 3
Doubles
- Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. #42 Ryan Shane/Luca Corinteli (VA) 7-6
- #4 Mac Styslinger/Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Jon Ho/Petros Chrysochos (WF) 6-3
- Romain Bogaerts/Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. J.C. Aragone/Collin Altamirano (VA) 7-6
Singles
- Ryan Shane (VA) def. Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-3, 6-1
- Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
- Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Jon Ho (WF) 6-2, 6-3
- Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Mac Styslinger (VA) 6-4, 7-5
- J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Dennis Uspensky (WF) 6-1, 6-2
- Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,5,3,2,4,6)
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Chris Graham
