Seeking their tenth straight ACC title, the top-ranked team in the nation, the Virginia men’s tennis team, traveled down to the Cary Tennis Center in Cary, N.C., this past weekend. The team won the ACC regular season championship, but knew this tournament would be a struggle, as they did not win the regular season nearly as convincingly as they had in past years. However, the Cavaliers fell short of winning their tenth-straight ACC title.
As the top seed, the Cavaliers (24-4, 11-1 ACC) began in the quarterfinals, taking on the eighth-seeded North Carolina State. The Cavaliers clinched a 4-1 victory over the Wolfpack (18-14, 5-7 ACC) when sophomore Collin Altamirano defeated NC State senior Thomas Weigel 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, sending the Cavaliers to the semifinal.
The semifinal was against North Carolina, to whom the Cavaliers lost twice earlier in the season. It was yet again a hotly contested battle between these two elite teams, but this time, the Cavaliers defeated the Tar Heels (25-4, 9-3 ACC), 4-3.
In a match that was suspended for nearly three hours due to rain, Virginia played some of its best tennis of the season. The match was decided when sophomore Henrik Wiersholm defeated North Carolina junior Jack Murray 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 to clinch a championship berth for the Cavaliers.
Virginia faced second-seeded Wake Forest for the title — a team the Cavaliers beat last Friday to clinch the ACC regular season title. The Cavaliers played great tennis again, but came up short against a hungry Demon Deacon squad, losing the match, 4-3.
Dropping the doubles point hurt the Cavaliers, but the match was ultimately decided at the sixth spot on the singles ladder. It was an incredible match between Virginia junior Luca Corinteli and Wake Forest freshman Dennis Uspensky, but ultimately, Uspensky pulled out a 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) win in a match so hotly contested that it required a tiebreak for each set.
Despite the loss, the Cavaliers will go into the NCAA tournament as one of the top teams in the nation, hoping to repeat their championship effort from last season.
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