Thursday, May 16
Orlando, Fla.
12:00 PM
Wake Forest University
4
vs
2
Virginia (Quarterfinals)
No. 3 Deacs Take Down No. 5 Cavaliers for NCAA Semifinal Berth
5/16/2019 5:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Wake Forest defeated Virginia for the third time this season in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Wake Forest men's tennis secured a spot in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship with a 4-2 victory over Virginia Thursday (May 16) afternoon at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
It is the second semifinal berth in program history for the Deacs (33-3), and second in as many years after capturing the program's first-ever NCAA title a year ago. Wake Forest, the No. 4 seed in the field and ranked third in the country, awaits its opponent for Saturday's semifinal, with top-seeded Ohio State and North Carolina meeting in a quarterfinal match later on Thursday.
As they have all season, Wake Forest showed its dominant singles play after dropping the doubles point. Virginia (24-5) took the first point Thursday, marking the third consecutive match in the NCAA Championship in which the Deacs faced an early 1-0 deficit.
The Demon Deacons improved to 11-1 on the year when losing doubles. The opening action was decided on the third court after the top two courts were split. Siddhant Banthia and Melios Efstathiou pushed the match to a tiebreaker, and led 5-2, before Virginia won five consecutive points to claim the opening point of the match.
Undeterred, the Deacs took the four opening sets they were looking for across the six singles courts. Banthia quickly rebounded from the doubles loss, cruising to a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Matthew Lord at No. 6 singles to even the match at 1-all.
Virginia, seeded fifth in the field, regained the lead at 2-1 after Rrezart Cungu fell to Ryan Goetz at No. 4 singles. From there, it was all Wake Forest as the Deacs took the remaining three singles matches to claim the victory.
First, Bar Botzer evened the match at 2-all with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Henrik Wiersholm before Efstathiou gave the Deacs the lead for good with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles.
It would come down to the top two courts, where Borna Gojo dropped the opening set of his No. 1 singles match while Petros Chrysochos took the opening set at the No. 2 spot.
Gojo fought back from a 6-4 defeat in the first set to force a third set with a 6-4 victory in the second. Meanwhile, Chrysochos had a pair of match points in second-set tiebreaker before eventually being pushed to a third set with an 8-6 defeat in the tiebreaker.
Gojo cruised to a 6-1 triumph in the third set as his opponent, third-ranked Carl Soderlund, battled cramps throughout the entire set.
Following an off day Friday, the Deacs will take the court for their semifinal match on Saturday, May 18. First serve is set for 4 p.m.
It is the second semifinal berth in program history for the Deacs (33-3), and second in as many years after capturing the program's first-ever NCAA title a year ago. Wake Forest, the No. 4 seed in the field and ranked third in the country, awaits its opponent for Saturday's semifinal, with top-seeded Ohio State and North Carolina meeting in a quarterfinal match later on Thursday.
As they have all season, Wake Forest showed its dominant singles play after dropping the doubles point. Virginia (24-5) took the first point Thursday, marking the third consecutive match in the NCAA Championship in which the Deacs faced an early 1-0 deficit.
The Demon Deacons improved to 11-1 on the year when losing doubles. The opening action was decided on the third court after the top two courts were split. Siddhant Banthia and Melios Efstathiou pushed the match to a tiebreaker, and led 5-2, before Virginia won five consecutive points to claim the opening point of the match.
Undeterred, the Deacs took the four opening sets they were looking for across the six singles courts. Banthia quickly rebounded from the doubles loss, cruising to a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Matthew Lord at No. 6 singles to even the match at 1-all.
Virginia, seeded fifth in the field, regained the lead at 2-1 after Rrezart Cungu fell to Ryan Goetz at No. 4 singles. From there, it was all Wake Forest as the Deacs took the remaining three singles matches to claim the victory.
First, Bar Botzer evened the match at 2-all with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Henrik Wiersholm before Efstathiou gave the Deacs the lead for good with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles.
It would come down to the top two courts, where Borna Gojo dropped the opening set of his No. 1 singles match while Petros Chrysochos took the opening set at the No. 2 spot.
Gojo fought back from a 6-4 defeat in the first set to force a third set with a 6-4 victory in the second. Meanwhile, Chrysochos had a pair of match points in second-set tiebreaker before eventually being pushed to a third set with an 8-6 defeat in the tiebreaker.
Gojo cruised to a 6-1 triumph in the third set as his opponent, third-ranked Carl Soderlund, battled cramps throughout the entire set.
Following an off day Friday, the Deacs will take the court for their semifinal match on Saturday, May 18. First serve is set for 4 p.m.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
123
Carl Soderlund / 0 (3/-) [VA]
641
466
#2 Singles Match
1234
Brandon Nakashima / 0 (82/-) [VA]
3710
662UF
#3 Singles Match
12
Henrik Wiersholm / 0 (114/-) [VA]
32
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Ryan Goetz / 0 [VA]
66
23
#5 Singles Match
12
Aswin Lizen / 0 [VA]
34
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Matthew Lord / 0 [VA]
30
66
Order of Finish:
6,4,3,5,1
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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