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Monday, April 28, 2014
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Cavs win eighth straight ACC title
No. 4 Virginia men’s tennis does not drop point, cruises to conference tournament title Krishna Korupolu Associate Editor
The No. 4 Virginia men’s tennis team continued its ACC dominance Sunday, defeating No. 9 North Carolina to clinch the program’s eighthstraight ACC Tournament title and 10th in the past 11 years. With the victory against the Tar Heels, the Cavaliers extended their conference match win streak to 121 matches. The ACC boasts a lineup of six teams ranked in the ITA top-30, but none of the other five highly ranked teams were able to present much of the challenge for the Cavaliers (23-2, 11-0 ACC). Holding the No. 1 seed, Virginia started off the weekend with a bye. In the quarterfinals Friday, the Cavaliers blanked No. 30 Florida State, 4-0. The Seminoles (18-11, 5-6 ACC) were never able to break the Cavaliers in the match and dropped every set. Virginia followed the victory against FSU with another dominant showing Saturday against No. 13 Notre Dame in the semifinals. The Fighting Irish (19-9, 7-4 ACC), much like the Seminoles, were not able to challenge the Cavaliers. Vir-
ginia, led by No. 115 freshman ThaiSon Kwiatkowski, won the match 4-0. Kwiatkowski posted an impressive victory in straight sets at No. 5 against freshman Eddy Covalschi, 6-1, 6-0, and is now 15-1 on the season. “The first-years have had significant impact and they will continue to play a significant role as we prepare for the NCAA,” coach Brian Boland said. “They have had an incredible impact on our program.” In the finals against North Carolina (24-5, 9-2 ACC), Virginia dropped its first set of the tournament in the doubles portion of the match. That would prove to be just a small bump in the road, however, as No. 14 senior Alex Domijan bested No. 12 freshman Brayden Schnur in a pair of 6-3 sets and Virginia cruised to victory against the Tar Heels, 4-0, to clinch the tournament title. The Cavaliers now turn their attention to defending their national team title in the NCAA Tournament, which kicks off May 9. Virginia won the crown last year by taking down UCLA in a 4-3 thriller that ended when No. 2 junior Frank Mitchell completed a comeback victory to clinch the program’s first team title. “I think we are in a great position
going into the NCAA Tournament,” Boland said. “We are really positive going into the NCAA and we are looking forward to working really hard over the next couple of weeks to prepare for the tournament because there is still room to get better.” The only two matches Virginia lost this season were against No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 UCLA, each extremely close 4-3 losses. The loss to Ohio State occurred early in the spring season at the ITA National Team Indoor Tournament, while the UCLA loss came weeks later in early March. Leading up to their outdoor match against the Bruins in Los Angeles, the Cavaliers were forced to move their practices indoor due to inclement weather. “Those were tough situations we played in,” Boland said. “[For] UCLA, we traveled out there in tough conditions and hadn’t had a lot of preparation in order to play that match. In terms of Ohio State, we played them indoors and they played really good indoor tennis that week and hats off to them.” The Buckeyes (30-3, 11-0 Big Ten) and Bruins (22-3, 6-1 Pac-12) also clinched their conferences titles
Courtesy Virginia Athletics
Virginia men’s tennis won its eighth consecutive ACC Championship Sunday, its 10th in 11 years.
during the weekend. Ohio State took down No. 12 Illinois to win the Big Ten and the Bruins upset No. 1 Southern California in the Pac-12 finals to clinch the conference title. Along with UCLA, USC and Ohio State, No. 3 Oklahoma likely poses the greatest threat to the Cavaliers. For Virginia, the losses to Ohio State and UCLA serve as an extra spark going into the NCAA tournament. “We’re more eager and hungry,” Boland said. “[The losses] humbled us a little bit, which I felt was positive and we have not lost since. [We] really improved during that time and we are hungrier than ever.” Unlike last year, Virginia will enter this year’s tournament without Jarmere Jenkins, who graduated last May. Jenkins and sophomore Mac Styslinger teamed up last year to carry the doubles point for the Cavaliers, while also winning the NCAA
doubles title in the process. This season, Virginia has asked freshman Luca Corintelli to fill Jenkins’ vacated role as Styslinger’s doubles partner and the pair is currently ranked No. 54 nationally. In recent weeks, the anchor on the doubles side for the Cavaliers has been the undefeated No. 74 duo of senior Alex Domijan and sophomore Harrison Richmond. Even though the Cavaliers are the defending national champions, it is very likely they will not enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed, a fact that does not faze Virginia according to Boland. “We were not the No. 1 seed last year even though we went undefeated,” Boland said. “I don’t think that really has any bearing. It is about how well you perform and the best team will come out on top.” Virginia is 39-14 all time in the NCAA Tournament.
Women win program’s first ACC title
Courtesy Sara Davis
In the program’s first ACC title match appearance, No. 7 Virginia edged No. 6 Duke, 4-2, when sophomore Stephanie Nauta upset No. 35 senior Hanna Mar in a third-set tiebreaker.
Continuing to make school history, the No. 7 Virginia women’s tennis team defeated No. 6 Duke to win the first ACC Championship title in program history Sunday in Cary, North Carolina. After receiving a double bye, the third-seeded Cavaliers (21-5, 12-2 ACC) defeated sixth-seeded Georgia Tech (13-9, 9-5 ACC), 4-1, late Friday night to advance to the semifinals. A 4-0 shutout against secondseeded Miami (19-5, 12-2 ACC) the next day led to Virginia’s first-ever conference championship victory. Dominating Thursday and Friday’s competition, the Blue Devils blanked No. 13 seed Wake Forest (12-13, 3-11 ACC) and fourthseeded Clemson (20-6, 12-2 ACC) to face top-seeded archrival North Carolina (24-5, 12-2 ACC) in Saturday’s semifinal round. Duke then toppled the Tar Heels, 4-3, to advance to the ACC finals. In a tight 4-2 victory, the Cava-
liers managed to edge fifth-seeded Duke (24-4, 11-3 ACC) to cap off their conference title run. Though senior Li Xi and sophomore Stephanie Nauta fell to Duke’s fifth-ranked duo of senior Hanna Mar and sophomore Beatrice Capra in doubles, Virginia secured the other two matches. The No. 13 pair of sophomore Julia Elbaba and freshman Rachel Pierson went 3-0 throughout the tournament in doubles by defeating No. 30 junior Ester Goldfeld and freshman Alyssa Smith, 8-6. Sophomores Danielle Collins and Maci Epstein also maintained a perfect doubles record, battling No. 88 junior Annie Mulholland and freshman Chalena Scholl to clinch the point, 8-6. Collins, named the tournament’s MVP, quickly extended the Virginia lead to 2-0 by besting No. 26 Goldfeld, 6-3, 6-1. With senior Caryssa Peretz and No. 69 Pierson falling at
No. 6 and No. 4, respectively, Duke was able draw even with the Cavaliers. Silencing the Blue Devil’s rally, Virginia took the last two matches in third-set victories. By defeating No. 113 Smith 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-1, Epstein gave the Cavaliers a slim 3-2 advantage. In a thrilling third set tiebreaker, Nauta upset No. 35 Mar, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3), to claim the ACC Championship. With a program-best 21-5 record, Virginia will appear in the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year. The first two rounds of the tournament, expected to be held at Snyder Tennis Center, will be played May 9 and 10. The Cavaliers will learn their first-round opponent Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. during the NCAA Women’s Tennis Selection Show. —compiled by Kristen Cauley