Men’s tennis: No. 1 UVA advances to the ACC Tournament semifinals

The UVA men’s tennis team (23-3, 11-1 ACC) opened the 2016 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship with a 4-1 victory over eight-seed N.C. State (18-14, 5-7 ACC) in a quarterfinal match on Friday(April 22).

Doubles began at the Cary Tennis Center in Cary, N.C., the host site for the tournament, but play was halted ten minutes into the competition and the matches had to be moved indoors to Duke’s Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center because of thunderstorms hitting the area. After a two-hour delay, play resumed with the Cavaliers clinching the doubles point. Virginia picked up wins at No. 4 and No. 6 singles to go up 3-0 before NC State grabbed a win at No. 3. Sophomore Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) recovered from a 6-1 setback in his first set to win his second and third 6-3 and 6-2 over Thomas Weigel at No. 2 to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

Junior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.) started off doubles with a 6-1 victory over Igor and Ivan Saveljic at No. 2. Altamriano and junior J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) defeated Nick Horton and Michael Ogden 6-3 at No. 3 to win the doubles point.

Aragone gave Virginia a 2-0 advantage with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Igor Saveljic at No. 4. Junior Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Shoti Meparidze at No. 6. Nick Horton scored the Wolfpack’s lone point with a 7-6 7-4), 6-2 victory over Kwiatkowski at No. 3.

Virginia is vying for its 10th-consecutive ACC championship. UVA will face the winner of this evening’s Georgia Tech/ North Carolina match in tomorrow’s semifinal, set to be played at 2 p.m. at the Cary Tennis Center. Live streaming of the match will be available online on ESPN3 with Patrick McEnroe serving as the lead announcer for the broadcast.

The tournament champion will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The complete NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Tuesday, May 3 at 5:30 p.m. in a live-streaming selection show on NCAA.com.

 

#1 UVA 4, #44 NC State 1

Singles competition

1. #8 Ryan Shane (VA) vs. #54 Simon Norenius (ST) 7-5, 5-7, unfinished
2. #40 Collin Altamirano (VA) def. #102 Thomas Weigel (ST) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Nick Horton (ST) def. #6 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
4. #68 J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Igor Saveljic (ST) 6-3, 6-4
5. #116 Henrik Wiersholm (VA) vs. Ivan Saveljic (ST) 7-6 (9-7), 1-5, unfinished
6. Luca Corinteli (VA) def. Shoti Meparidze (ST) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #2 Ryan Shane/Luca Corinteli (VA) vs. #52 Thomas Weigel/Simon Norenius (ST) 5-4, unfinished
2. #17 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger (VA) def. Igor Saveljic/Ivan Saveljic (ST) 6-1
3. Collin Altamirano/J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Nick Horton/Michael Ogden (ST) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,6,3,2)
Moved to Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center (Durham, NC) during doubles due to rain