Singles Propel No. 8 Deacs Past Virginia Tech, 4-1

BLACKSBURG, VA. – A dominant performance in singles with five straight-set victories in singles propelled the 8th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team past Virginia Tech (5-13, 1-6 ACC), 4-1, on Friday at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.

With the road win on Friday, The Deacs move to 22-4 overall and remain perfect in ACC play, moving to 5-0. Wake Forest's victory at Virginia Tech sets up a huge battle with No. 11 Virginia on Sunday in Charlottesville, Va. at 1 p.m. ET.

Quotable
"We got out to a strong start in doubles but couldn't finish it out. Great job to Virginia Tech for the battle they put up in doubles and pulling it out the early lead. I thought the guys responded well in singles after dropping the doubles point. They came out hot and competed in windy and cold conditions. Now we have a huge match on Sunday at Virginia. It would be great to have some Wake Forest fans out there to cheer us on." - Coach Bresky

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How It Happened
Virginia Tech collected wins on courts two and three of doubles as they clinched with a tiebreaker on two to earn the 1-0 lead.

Down 1-0, the Deacs came out hot in singles. Senior Eduardo Nava cruised out to tie the match up at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Hugo Maia.

Next to finish was Wake Forest's Siddhant Banthia, who claimed his first set, before fending off Carlo Donato, 6-4 to secure a 6-1, 6-4 win and give the Deacs a commanding 2-1 lead.

Soon after Banthia's finish, senior Rrezart Cungu earned another singles victory on court four, overcoming Michael Shepheard, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 to move close to the clinch.

Melios Efstathiou clinched the match, he claimed the Deacs last point with a victory in the third singles match. Efstathiou took the match, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

Singles Results
1. #97 Ryan Fishback (VT) vs. #113 Jurabek Karimov (WF) 2-6, 6-4, 4-1, unfinished
2. #34 Eduardo Nava (WF) def. Hugo Maia (VT) 6-2, 6-1
3. Melios Efstathiou (WF) def. Alvaro Ariza (VT) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
4. Rrezart Cungu (WF) def. Michael Shepheard (VT) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
5. Siddhant Banthia (WF) def. Carlo Donato (VT) 6-1, 6-4
6. Alberto Orso (VT) vs. Jakob Schnaitter (WF) 4-6, 6-4, 2-5, unfinished

Doubles Results
1. #16 Jordan Chrysostom/Ryan Fishback (VT) vs. Ben Draper/Eduardo Nava (WF) 6-6, unfinished
2. Alvaro Ariza/Scott Sculley (VT) def. #49 Jurabek Karimov/Siddhant Banthia (WF) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Carlo Donato/Matt Harper (VT) def. Jakob Schnaitter/Matthew Thomson (WF) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (2,5,4,3)

Up Next
The Deacs will take on No. 11 Virginia in a battle at the top of the ACC. They will play at Virginia on Sunday, March 27 at 1 p.m.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Siddhant Banthia

Rrezart Cungu

Ben Draper

Melios Efstathiou

Jurabek Karimov

Eduardo Nava

Jakob Schnaitter

Matthew Thomson