Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
#1 Virginia (ACC Finals)
Demon Deacons Fall to Virginia in ACC Finals
4/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Andrew Wilson, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
DURHAM, N.C. - Taking aim at its first Atlantic Coast Conference Championship title in program history, the 11th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team fell just short on Sunday afternoon in a 4-2 loss to No. 5 Virginia at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center at Duke University.
The loss drops the third-seeded Demon Deacons to 22-7, snapping their nine-match winning streak. Top-seeded Virginia improved to 23-3 with the victory, won its ninth-straight ACC Championship title and 11th in the last 12 years. The Deacs have fallen to Virginia in the ACC Championship finals three times in the last seven years, falling 4-1 in 2013 and 4-0 in 2009. Wake Forest is now 0-6 all-time in the ACC Championship finals.
The match was moved indoors after weather delays at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina, due to weather and rain the night before and throughout the morning.
Wake Forest stuck with the nine-time defending ACC champs throughout the entirety of the match with the Deacs' two points coming from Noah Rubin and Romain Bogaerts at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Both players earned straight-set victories, as Rubin, the No. 13 player in the nation, upset Ryan Shane, the seventh-ranked player in the country, 7-6 (5), 6-3 and No. 15 Bogaerts topped No. 93 Collin Altamirano by the score of 6-3, 6-4.
In a tightly-contested doubles point, Wake Forest jumped out to an early lead with two holds and a break on No. 3 to earn a 3-0 advantage, but the Virginia duo of Altamirano and J.C. Aragone battled back with five-straight games to take a 5-3 lead. Ultimately, the contest went unfinished at 7-7 after Rubin and Jon Ho fell 8-5 on No. 2 and Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim lost a tough 8-6 decision on No. 1.
Trailing 1-0 after the doubles point, Wake Forest split the six first sets with the Cavaliers, taking first-set wins at Nos. 1, 2 and 6. After Mansouri lost his first set at No. 3, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski made it 2-0 for Virginia with a 6-2, 6-3 win. Shortly after, Seraphim fell 6-2, 6-4 against Aragone at No. 5 after battling to a tough loss in the second set.
With the Cavaliers leading 3-0, Rubin and Bogaerts finished within minutes of each other to cut the lead to 3-2 but Virginia clinched the match with a win from Alexander Ritschard on No. 4. Ritschard topped Ho 7-6 (5), 6-2 after battling through a neck-and-neck, first-set tiebreaker and coming out in the second set with back-to-back breaks to mount the advantage.
The only singles match to go unfinished was No. 6, as Keivon Tabrizi was battling Mac Styslinger in the third set after splitting the first two sets. Ultimately, Styslinger was leading 2-6, 6-4, 3-2 in the final set.
Wake Forest now awaits its NCAA Tournament fate. The NCAA Selection Show is set for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28. The show will stream live on NCAA.com immediately following the NCAA Women's Selection Show, which is set for 5 p.m. First- and second-round action is set for May 8-10 at select host sites across the nation. Following the first two rounds, the final 16 teams will battle for the national championship at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
#5 Virginia 4, #11 Wake Forest 2
Singles competition
1. Noah Rubin (WF) def. Ryan Shane (VA) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
2. Romain Bogaerts (WF) def. Collin Altamirano (VA) 6-3, 6-4
3. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-2, 6-3
4. Alexander Ritschard (VA) def. Jon Ho (WF) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
5. J.C. Aragone (VA) def. Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-2, 6-4
6. Mac Styslinger (VA) vs. Keivon Tabrizi (WF) 2-6, 6-4, 3-2, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Luca Corinteli/Ryan Shane (VA) def. Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) 8-6
2. Mac Styslinger/Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. Jon Ho/Noah Rubin (WF) 8-5
3. Collin Altamirano/J.C. Aragone (VA) vs. Keivon Tabrizi/Romain Bogaerts (WF) 7-7, unfinished
Match Notes:
Wake Forest 22-7; National ranking #11
Virginia 23-3; National ranking #5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,5,1,2,4)
Players Mentioned
