Men’s tennis: No. 1 UVA advances to NCAA Second Round

The UVA men’s tennis team (25-4) advanced to the second round of the 2016 NCAA Championship with a 4-0 victory over Monmouth (12-10) on Saturday (May 14) at the Snyder Tennis Center.

The Cavaliers will face No. 37 Penn State (22-8, 6-5 Big Ten) on Sunday, May 15 at 1 p.m. with the winner of that match advancing to the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the final 16 teams will compete for the national championship May 20-24.

Penn State upset No. 25 Columbia, 4-3, in Saturday’s early match to advance to the second round.

“Monmouth is a good team that won the MAAC conference tournament with a lot of good players,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “This match wasn’t easy for us in certain spots, which I think was a good thing. We want to be pushed a little bit in the first round. Sometimes it is the most difficult match. I thought that our three-week layoff showed in certain spots, but after 45 minutes, we settled down a bit and played better. It was good to get through the first round and now we will get ready to play Penn State tomorrow.”

The Cavaliers clinched the doubles point after junior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Mac Styslinger (Birmingham, Ala.) defeated Vidit Vaghela and Ale Gomez Estrada 6-0 at No. 2. Junior J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and sophomore Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.) secured the point with a 6-2 victory over Christian Vieira and Alberto Giuffrida at No. 3.

In singles, the Cavaliers won five first-sets, with the exception being No. 1 singles, which was still in the first set when the match was decided. Kwiatkowski, currently ranked No. 9 in singles, defeated Nicola Pipoli 6-1, 6-3 to give Virginia a 2-0 lead. Junior Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) followed with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Alberto Giuffrida. Sophomore Alexander Ritschard (Zurich, Switzerland), playing in jis first match of the spring, downed Gomez Estrada 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 to seal the victory.

Ritschard was 8-0 in singles in the fall before being sidelined by a shoulder injury and is currently ranked No. 78 in singles. Kwiatkowski’s victory was the 96th singles win of his Cavalier career. He improves to 32-7 this season in singles.

Virginia is 22-2 all-time against Penn State. The Cavaliers and Nittany Lions last met in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament with the Cavaliers advancing with a 4-1 victory.

Live scoring for Sunday’s match will be available on VirginiaSports.com. There will not be live streaming video for the match.

The defending national champion Cavaliers have advanced to the Round of 16 each of the last 12 years and the quarterfinals 11-straight times. Virginia has won two titles in the last four years (2013 and 2015) and has reached the semifinals in eight of the last nine seasons.

 

#1 UVA 4, Monmouth 0

Singles competition

1. #8 Ryan Shane (VA) vs. Vaghela, Vidit (MU-M) 6-6, unfinished
2. #33 Collin Altamirano (VA) vs. Filipek, Przemyslaw (MU-M) 6-1, 5-2, unfinished
3. #9 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) 6-1, 6-3
4. #78 Alexander Ritschard (VA) def. Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 6-1, 6-2
5. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) vs. Vieira, Christian (MU-M) 6-2, 4-3, unfinished
6. Luca Corinteli (VA) def. Giuffrida, Alberto (MU-M) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles competition

1. #4 Ryan Shane/Luca Corinteli (VA) vs. Filipek, Przemyslaw/Pipoli, Nicola (MU-M) 5-4, unfinished
2. #16 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger (VA) def. Vaghela, Vidit/Gomez Estrada, Ale (MU-M) 6-0
3. J.C. Aragone/Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Vieira, Christian/Giuffrida, Alberto (MU-M) 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,6,4)

T-1:32 A-416

Melissa Dudek