Tennis: No. 17 UVA opens with 6-1 win over William & Mary

The No. 17 UVA men’s tennis team (1-0) opened with a 6-1 victory over William & Mary (0-1) at the Boar’s Head Sports Club on Thursday.

The Cavaliers claimed the doubles point before taking straight set victories on courts one, two, four and five – including a gritty tiebreak on court five from freshman Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, N.Y.) – on the way to the victory.

“Doubles was a highlight – we got off to a great start and the energy was good,” said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso. “We had a couple of new teams out there and for their first match, they were pretty good. In singles, congrats to Henrik (Wiersholm) in his first match back in a while. Our first years Ryan (Goetz) and Brandon (Nakashima) had a great debut. We have work to do with a tough match on Sunday, but the team overall had a good day.”

In doubles action, Freshman Brandon Nakashima (San Diego, Calif.) and senior Henrik Wiersholm (Kirkland, Wash.) finished first, taking a 6-2 victory on court three. Virginia clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win from senior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) and sophomore Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) on court one. Junior Carl Soderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) and freshman William Woodall (Washington, D.C.) closed out doubles play with a 6-3 win on court two.

In singles action, the Cavaliers posted quick victories on courts one and two in singles play.
Soderlund cruised to a straight-set victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Brendan Volk on court one. It was followed by a 6-0, 6-3 victory from Nakashima over Finbar Talcott on court two.

Wiersholm then clinched the match with his victory on court four, taking it 6-4, 6-1 over Chen Ruo, before Virginia extended its lead with Goetz’s win on court six. Goetz fought through a first-set tiebreak on the way to a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win over Jack Kelly.

William & Mary got on the board with a back-and-forth match on court three with Sebastian Quiros taking a 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 victory over 38th-ranked Ross.

Lizen closed out the match, battling to a three-set victory over Daniel Pellerito, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Virginia will return to action on Sunday (Jan. 20), jumping into ACC play against Louisville at 11 a.m. The match will be played at the Boar’s Head Sports Club and admission is free to the public.

No. 17 Virginia 6, William & Mary 1

Singles

1. Carl Soderlund def. Brenden Volk (W&M), 6-1, 6-1

2. Brandon Nakashima def. Finbar Talcott (W&M), 6-0, 6-3

3. Sebastian Quiros (W&M) def. No. 38 Gianni Ross, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2

4. Henrik Wiersholm def. Chen Ruo (W&M), 6-4, 6-1

5. Aswin Lizen def. Daniel Pellerito (W&M), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

6. No. 54 Ryan Goetz def. Jack Kelly (W&M), 7-6, 6-2

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 4, 6, 3, 5

Doubles

1. Aswin Lizen/Gianni Ross vs. Brenden Volk/Oren Vasser (W&M), 6-3

2. Carl Soderlund/William Woodall vs. Tristan Bautil/Finbar Talcott (W&M), 6-3

3. Brandon Nakashima/Henrik Wiersholm vs. Chen Ruo/Daniel Pellerito (W&M), 6-2

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2