Wake Forest University
No. 2 Virginia
Deacs Edged in ACC Title Match, 4-3
4/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMTennis)
ROME, GA. – Wake Forest's bid to repeat as ACC champions came up just short Sunday afternoon, as the Demon Deacon men's tennis team was edged by Virginia, 4-3, in the ACC championship match held at the Rome Tennis Center.
In a repeat of the ACC title match in each of the past two seasons, the Cavaliers (27-1) avenged last year's title loss and this year's regular season loss to the Demon Deacons (27-2) with a match that ultimately went down to the final court in play.
For just the fourth time this season, the Demon Deacons dropped the doubles point. Action across all three courts were even late into doubles play, but breaks by the Cavaliers in the closing moments secured 6-3 and 6-4 victories on courts 2 and 3, respectively.
Wake Forest found themselves in an early hole in singles, as Virginia took the first set on four of the six courts. Petros Chrysochos, one of the two Deacs to take a first set, put Wake Forest on the board with a victory in the top slot. Chrysochos, ranked fourth nationally, defeated No. 90 Alexander Rischard, 6-2, 6-4.
The Cavaliers then earned back-to-back victories at No. 2 and 4 to go ahead 3-1 and put the Deacs on the brink of defeat. Wake Forest's rally began on the sixth singles court, as Alan Gadjiev pulled Wake Forest within a point with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over No. 95 Henrik Wiersholm.
The remaining two matches featured Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim, who each dropped the opening set of their matches at No. 3 and No. 5 singles, respectively. Mansouri bounced back from an early 6-4 defeat to No. 109 Carl Soderlund to win the next two sets to take the match. The junior claimed 6-3, 6-2 decisions to even the match at 3-all and turn attention to Seraphim who was in the middle of a close third set.
Seraphim battled to a first-set tiebreaker to No. 117 J.C. Aragone but was unable to pull through, falling 10-8. The native of Munich, Germany, responded with a 6-4 victory in the second set to push the deciding match into a third and final set. The two were tied at 4-all when Aragone earned a break and served out to claim the title with a 6-4 victory in the final set.
Wake Forest now awaits word on its destination for the NCAA Tournament. As a top-16 team in the country, the Deacs are scheduled to host, but official word will be made on Tuesday, May 2nd, when the tournament field is formally announced at 5 p.m.
No. 2 Virginia 4, No. 1 Wake Forest 3
Singles Results
1. #4 Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #90 Alexander Rischard (VA), 6-2, 6-4
2. #15 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) def. #51 Borna Gojo (WF), 6-4, 6-4
3. #13 Skander Mansouri (WF) def. #109 Carl Soderlund (VA), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. #46 Collin Altamirano (VA) def. Dennis Uspensky (WF), 6-3, 6-4
5. #117 J.C. Aragone (VA) def. #75 Christian Seraphim (WF), 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 6-3
6. Alan Gadjiev (WF) def. #95 Henrik Wiersholm (VA), 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1,2,4,6,3,5
Doubles Results
1. #1 Mansouri/Seraphim (WF) vs. #16 Corinteli/Soderlund (VA), 4-5, unfinished
2. Kwiatkowski/Ritschard (VA) def. Gadjiev/Gojo (WF), 6-3
3. Altamirano/Aragone (VA) def. Chrysochos/Uspensky (WF), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2,3
Players Mentioned
