No. 3 Virginia Downs No. 75 Duke, 6-1

Sunday, April 3

Durham, N.C.

3:00 PM

Duke University

Virginia

No. 3 Virginia Downs No. 75 Duke, 6-1

4/3/2016 6:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 75 Duke men's tennis team pushed No. 3 Virginia to four three-set singles matches, but the Cavaliers had the upper hand late in defeating the Blue Devils 6-1 inside Ambler Tennis Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The Blue Devils (11-11, 4-5 ACC) picked up their point from senior Josh Levine on court five and extended the Cavaliers (17-3, 7-1 ACC) to three sets on courts one, two, three and six with UVa winning all four decisions.

“I was really proud of the fight,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “I thought the team energy was great. It was a great crowd out here. We had a lot of momentum going there for a while and were looking pretty good. We just need to be a little more consistent and capitalize on opportunities.”

In doubles, the Cavaliers captured victories on courts two and three to take the point. On court two, the Cavalier duo of Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Mac Styslinger, ranked No. 8 in the country, defeated senior Daniel McCall and freshman Jason Lapidus, 6-2. Virginia ran off four straight victories after a 2-2 tie to end the match. McCall and Lapidus had their four match winning streak snapped and dip to 8-6 overall and 3-5 in league play.

Virginia clinched the point on court three, where J.C. Aragone and Collin Altamirano topped sophomore Nicolas Alvarez and junior TJ Pura, 6-3. With the two teams even at 3-3, the Cavaliers took the last three games to win the set. Alvarez and Pura fall to 1-1, all in ACC matches.

The match on court one between No. 2 Ryan Shane and Luca Corinteli of Virginia and freshmen Catalin Mateas and Vincent Lin was halted with the Cavaliers up 5-4.

“In singles I thought we rebounded well,” Smith added. “All six matches were extremely competitive. We lost a really tough straight-set match with TJ and Josh was able to win in straight sets. The other four were all three sets. We were right there but just had a little bit of trouble shutting the door. A lot of that was due to Virginia and their experience. They were really good in the big moments.”

The Blue Devils had the quick answer in singles to tie the match at 1-1 as Levine defeated No. 88 Aragone, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on court five. With the first set even at 2-2, Levine dropped the next two games to trail 4-2, only to win the final four games. In the second set, Levine led 3-1, but Aragone answered with three consecutive games to go up 4-3. Levine then won back-to-back games to lead 5-4. Aragone rallied again and forced a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Levine had a 4-1 advantage before Aragone cut the deficit to 4-3. Levine ripped off the final three points for the triumph. Levine earned his first win of the campaign against a ranked foe and upped his record to 15-11 overall and 5-2 in ACC play.

Virgina responded with five consecutive singles wins, four in three sets, for the 6-1 final.

The march began on court one, as No. 8 Shane downed No. 19 Alvarez, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0. In the opening set, Shane took advantages of 2-0, 3-1 and 5-2 before winning. Alvarez breezed through the second set, leading 5-0 en route to the victory. Shane responded in the third set and earned the win. Alvarez is now 14-14 and 3-5 against league foes. Of Alvarez's 28 matches this season, 20 (8-12 record) have been versus ranked opponents.

The Cavaliers tallied their third point on court six, where Corinteli came back to top freshman Adrian Chamdani 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. With the first set even at 3-3, Chamdani won consecutive games to go up 5-3. Corinteli broke to trail 5-4, but Chamdani broke back to capture the set. Chamdani trailed 4-1 in the second set and got it down to 4-2, but Corinteli won the final eight games of the match. Chamdani dips to 11-13 overall and 0-3 against league opponents.

Virginia registered the clinching point on court four, as Henrik Wiersholm defeated Pura 7-6 (6), 6-3. Wiersholm turned a 2-2 tie in the first set into a 4-2 lead, but Pura answered and evened the set at 4-4. The two were knotted and 5-5 and 6-6 and headed to the tiebreaker. Again the two remained close in the tiebreaker, as it was even at all points one through six. Wiersholm took the final two points for the set. The second set had Wiersholm snap a 3-3 draw with three straight wins for the match. Pura drops to 12-13 overall and 5-4 in the ACC.

UVa tacked on its fifth point on court two, with No. 63 Altamirano defeating Mateas, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Altamirano cruised through the opening set before Mateas responded in the second set, taking a 2-0 lead. Altamirano came back to even the set at 2-2 and 3-3, but Mateas then responded with three straight wins to force a third set. In the third set, Mateas took a 3-1 advantage with a game penalty on Altamirano. Mateas then led 4-2, but Altamirano won the final four games. Mateas falls to 14-8 and 4-5 versus league foes.

The Cavaliers tallied the match's last point with a three-set decision on court three with No. 7 Kwiatkowski topping Lin 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-2. In the opening set, the two were tied at every point and headed to the tiebreaker, where Lin captured the first point and Kwiatkowski the rest. In the second set, the two were even at points one through four before Lin broke and held to win the set. The final set had Kwiatkowski turn a 2-2 tie into the match win with two holds and two breaks. Lin is now 20-15 overall, 5-4 in the league and 2-3 versus ranked opponents.

Duke returns to action Saturday with a 3 p.m. match at Wake Forest.

Virginia 6, Duke 1
April 3, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Ambler Tennis Stadium)

Doubles competition
1. Catalin Mateas/Vincent Lin (DU) vs. #2 Ryan Shane/Luca Corinteli (VA) 4-5, unfinished
2. #8 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger (VA) def. Jason Lapidus/Daniel McCall (DU) 6-2
3. J.C. Aragone/Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Nicolas Alvarez/TJ Pura (DU) 6-3

Singles competition
1. #8 Ryan Shane (VA) def. #19 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-0
2. #63 Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Catalin Mateas (DU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
3. #7 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Vincent Lin (DU) 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-2
4. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. TJ Pura (DU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
5. Josh Levine (DU) def. #88 J.C. Aragone (VA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Luca Corinteli (VA) def. Adrian Chamdani (DU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0

Match Notes:
Virginia 17-3, 7-1 ACC; National ranking #3
Duke 11-11, 4-5 ACC; National ranking #75
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,1,6,4,2,3)
UVa's Altamirano assessed a game and point penalty in the third set vs Mateas
Official: Diane Spangler
T-2:43 A-236

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