The men’s tennis team defeated Clemson in a 4-2 win on Sunday, rallying in singles play after losing the doubles point. Two of Virginia’s ITA ranked players, sophomore Carl Söderlund (No. 38) and junior Aswin Lizen (No. 32), won their matches in straight sets, while freshman Gianni Ross (No. 120) fell to Clemson’s sophomore Simon Baudry.
While the Cavaliers did lose the doubles point, they by no means played poorly. The No. 2 and No. 3 doubles courts both lost in close tiebreakers. On No. 1, however, Lizen and Ross were able to take down the Tiger’s ranked team of senior Alex Favrot and Baudry (No. 22) in a 6-2 beatdown. While struggling early in the year in doubles, the Cavaliers seem to have found their footing — they have not lost more than two doubles matches since their defeat at Louisville last month.
In singles play, Söderlund, Lizen and freshman Matthew Lord quickly won their matches, putting Virginia up 3-1 over the Tigers. Clemson’s Baudry was able to best Ross, but freshmen Kyrylo Tsygura clinched for the Cavaliers with an impressive 6-2, 6-2 win. The most competitive match of the day — a battle on the No. 5 court between freshman Ammar Alhaqbani and Clemson’s freshman Yizhou Liu — went uncompleted, with Alhaqbani struggling to make a comeback after dropping the first set to Liu.
Virginia will next travel to North Carolina, where they will take on the No. 18 Duke Blue Devils Friday and the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels Sunday. This may be Virginia’s toughest challenge to date, but with a streak of five wins already behind them, the Cavaliers are heating up at just the right time.
Read More
Virginia baseball drops two of three in home series with Georgia Tech
By Ryan Weiner | YesterdayThe Cavaliers dropped a crucial series, and will need to rebound quickly heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
Virginia track and field delivers strong performances at Virginia Challenge
By Tanmayi Patil | YesterdayThe Cavaliers displayed impressive performances across the board over the weekend.
No. 4 men’s lacrosse falls in “heroic” game against No. 7 Syracuse after fourth-quarter charge
By Cole Huff | YesterdayWhile Virginia failed to win, the game provided an excellent feel for what the NCAA Tournament will be like, preparing the team for May.
