If the theme of the season for the eighth-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team thus far has been resilience, it might have just transformed to dominance before our very eyes. Following five straight ACC wins to open up the conference season, the Cavaliers continued their in-conference success this weekend with two statement wins over ACC rivals North Carolina and Duke.
Friday, after a late move inside to the Boars’ Head due to rain, the Cavaliers (14-3, 7-0 ACC) rolled to a 6-1 win over a dangerous 14th-ranked North Carolina (14-7, 3-2 ACC) team. Because of the move inside the match was restricted to three available courts, but Virginia’s resilience showed once again.
After junior Mac Styslinger and sophomore Thai-Son Kwiatkowski won 8-2 at the second doubles spot, the eighth-ranked team of sophomore Luca Corinteli and junior Ryan Shane squeaked out a win over the Tar Heels’ 27th-ranked first position team to give Virginia the early doubles point.
“I was really impressed with North Carolina,” coach Brian Boland said. “They played some great doubles. Corinteli carried the day for us in doubles, and that was a big point at the start of the match.”
From there, it was all Cavaliers. Twenty-ninth-ranked senior Mitchell Frank, the unquestioned leader of this Virginia squad, led off with a dominant victory at the second position, and, as if in a heartbeat, Shane, 55th-ranked freshman Collin Altamirano and 10th-ranked Kwiatkowski all beat their Tar Heel foes to push Virginia’s already convincing lead to 5-0. Although freshman Henrik Wiersholm dropped his match at No. 5, sophomore J.C. Aragone won in straight sets at No. 6, in what would be a springboard for Sunday’s matchup against No. 4 Duke.
“We played well from top to bottom of the lineup,” Boland said. “And we continue to improve with each match.”
Sunday afternoon, in pristine outdoor tennis conditions, the Cavaliers faced what might have been one of their most difficult tests throughout their profound 131-match ACC winning streak. Fourth-ranked Duke (17-3, 4-2 ACC), which had won eight of nine coming in, was a team looking to protect its top-five ranking--and end Virginia’s historic streak.
“Duke’s deserving to be a top five team and they’re having a great year,” Boland said. “They’ve had some excellent wins.”
In front of a raucous home crowd delighted that the Cavaliers were finally playing outside at Snyder, Virginia jumped out to an early lead. Altamirano and Frank combined for an impressive 8-1 win at the third doubles position, and the Shane-Corinteli duo followed shortly thereafter with an 8-3 win of its own. Although the 54th-ranked team of Styslinger and Kwiatkowski led 7-2, its match didn’t finish as the Cavaliers had already clinched the crucial first point.
“I’m really happy with the way we played doubles today,” Boland said. “It’s some of the best doubles we’ve played all year.”
Altamirano was first to finish in singles, besting junior Bruno Semenzato at the fourth position to give the Cavaliers a 4-0 lead. However, Kwiatkowski was upset at the third position by senior Raphael Hemmeler to bring the Blue Devils within one point. As afternoon turned to dusk and the temperature fell, the tension of the matchup only heated up.
Aragone, playing at the fifth position, delivered what might have been the most pivotal set win of the Cavaliers’ season thus far. After dropping his first set 4-6 to Blue Devil junior Josh Levine, Aragone stormed back to win the second 6-1 and from that point on, there was no doubt which way the match was going. The Yorba Linda, California native convincingly won the third set 6-2 to put Virginia ahead 3-1 in the match.
“J.C.’s a great competitor, he’s tremendously composed,” Boland said. “He embraces the moment, loves the pressure…He knows that he’s got a long match ahead of him and that’s part of what makes him a great player…What a great mind he has.”
Following Aragone’s win, Frank took the reins of the match and converted difficult shot after difficult shot in a marathon first set that went to a tiebreak, with Frank prevailing 7-3 following a game that featured 13 deuces.
“I think the team is better than we’ve been in years past, even when we won it,” Frank said. “I think it was definitely good to have that early adversity in the season.”
Frank came off after his first set looking anything but winded. In fact, during the changeover, he ran suicides. For those unfamiliar with Frank, the move seemed a bit odd. However, for Boland, it was anything but.
“Mitchell’s done the suicides before,” Boland said. “The guy can play for days and he’s really doing a great job leading our team. He’s going to leave it all on the court over the course of the next several weeks until the end of his career.”
And leave it on the court he did. After his difficult yet fruitful first set, he bested 41st-ranked senior Jason Tahir 7-5 in the second set to push the Cavalier lead to 4-1 and clinch an upset home victory to extend the program’s historic in-conference winning streak to 131.
“Again, a testament to all those players who have come through the program and have continued to put the orange and blue on,” Boland said. “I’m incredibly proud of these guys and we have a lot of work ahead of us for the rest of the season.”
Virginia will continue to work hard and try to carry on the winning streak when they take on William & Mary at home next Sunday. Match time is 2 p.m. at the Snyder courts.
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