Men’s tennis: No. 4 UVA tops No. 11 North Carolina, 4-3

The No. 4 UVA men’s tennis team (20-1, 7-1 ACC) closed out the weekend with a 4-3 victory over No. 11 North Carolina (19-3, 6-2 ACC) on Sunday (April 9) at the Snyder Tennis Center in Charlottesville, Va.

The Tar Heels won the doubles point and held a 2-0 lead before the Cavaliers won three-straight singles matches at the three, four and six courts to hold a 3-2 advantage. William Blumberg picked up a late break in his third set against senior Alexander Ritschard (Zurich, Switzerland) at No. 2, holding on to win the match and tie the score at three, leaving court five to be the deciding match. Junior Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) lost the first set 6-2 to Jack Murray but won the second 6-3 to force a third set. Wiersholm won a deciding deuce point in the first game of the third set to break Murray. Both players held serve through the remainder of the match with Wiersholm pulling out the 6-4 win to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

“I am really proud of the guys,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “They love this program and they love playing for one another. I am really proud of Henrik. He really played smart. He was able to disrupt pace in his opponent who was really a player who played off the hip and really liked pace. I thought that Henrik did a good job in terms of the choices in his service game by mixing up his serves and was looking for his forehand a little bit more with the wind at his back. He made great decisions and got himself through a really, really tough match. UNC is a great team. Congratulations to them. They are going to be a team that will be a big challenge down the road in the NCAA Tournament. We just need to keep getting better, stay focused and enjoy every minute of this incredible journey.”

Murray and Simon Soendergaard handed the doubles team of Ritschard and senior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Charlotte, N.C.) their first loss of the season, topping the tandem 6-4 on court two. No. 8 William Blumberg and Robert Kelly clinched the point with a 6-4 victory over senior Luca Corinteli (Alexandria, Va.) and Wiersholm at the No. 1 court.

In singles, Ronnie Schneider downed Kwiatkowski 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 advantage, but junior Collin Altamirano (Sacramento, Calif.), freshman Carl Soderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) and senior J.C. Aragone (Yorba Linda, Calif.) all picked up straight-set victories at three, four and six to put UVA up 3-2. Wiersholm improved to 14-0 in singles this season with his match-clinching victory on court five.

Two of North Carolina’s three losses this season have come against Virginia as UVA topped UNC 4-0 in the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 19.

The Cavaliers’ homestand will continue next week when Virginia hosts Georgia Tech on Thursday, April 13 at 5 p.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Georgia Tech match will be Senior Day with Kwiatkowski, Ritschard, Corinteli and Aragone all being honored in a brief on-court ceremony that will be held at the end of the doubles point and prior to the beginning of singles play. Admission is free for all UVA home tennis matches and free parking is available at the Culbreth Garage.

 

#4 Virginia 4, #11 North Carolina 3

Singles competition

1. #23 Ronnie Schneider (NC) def. #12 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) 6-4, 6-0
2. #34 William Blumberg (NC) def. Alexander Ritschard (VA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
3. #63 Collin Altamirano (VA) def. #93 Robert Kelly (NC) 6-2, 6-4
4. Carl Soderlund (VA) def. Simon Soendergaard (NC) 6-3, 6-3
5. #79 Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. Jack Murray (NC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Blaine Boyden (NC) 6-2, 7-5

Doubles competition

1. #8 William Blumberg/Robert Kelly (NC) def. #54 Luca Corinteli/Henrik Wiersholm (VA) 6-4
2. Jack Murray/Simon Soendergaard (NC) def. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Alexander Ritschard (VA) 6-4
3. Collin Altamirano/J.C. Aragone (VA) vs. Anu Kodali/Ronnie Schneider (NC) 6-5, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (1,3,4,6,2,5)

T-3:02 A-878