Over the weekend, the No. 2 Cavaliers men’s tennis team hosted a pair of ACC matchups. On Friday, they played No. 44 Notre Dame before facing Boston College on Saturday.
Notre Dame came into Friday’s matchup at 4-1 in league play and represented a tough matchup for the Hoos. The duo of Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane, ranked the No. 2 doubles pair in college tennis, secured a quick 6-2 victory to start the match. That was followed by a 6-4 victory for Collin Altamirano and JC Aragone to secure the doubles point for Virginia, giving them a 1-0 lead in the overall match.
In all six singles matches, each respective Virginia player was able to win the first set, putting the Cavaliers in good position for the rest of the match. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski put Virginia up 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles. Next, JC Aragone and Collin Altamirano were able to secure victories within moments of each other. Altamirano won 6-4, 6-2 while Aragone prevailed by a score of 7-6, 6-4. This brought the overall score to 4-0 and secured the match for Virginia in the best of seven format.
Henrik Wiersholm and Mac Styslinger were victorious for the Cavaliers at the No. 5 and 6 positions. All of these matches only lasted two sets each. No. 1 singles went into a decisive third set, after Ryan Shane dropped the second set to Quentin Monaghan of Notre Dame. In a third set tiebreak, Monaghan won 10-6 to claim the lone point for the Fighting Irish. Virginia won the match, 6-1.
On Saturday, Virginia faced Boston College, who entered at 0-6 in the ACC. The Cavaliers altered their lineup, allowing some fresh faces to see some playing time.
Senior Jonathan Cornish and junior Harrison Richmond played No. 3 doubles and dominated their match, winning 6-1. Styslinger and Kwiatkowski also won 6-1 to secure the doubles point.
In the singles matches, Virginia was met with little resistance, winning all six matches in two sets each. Luca Corinteli and Harrison Richmond were entered into the lineup at No. 5 and 6, respectively. They each posted a dominant victory. Usual starters Ryan Shane, Collin Altamirano, Henrik Wiersholm, and Mac Styslinger all won to give the Cavaliers a 7-0 match victory.
These matches ended a homestand for the Cavaliers, who will now embark on a grueling five match road trip. They will not play at home again until April 15 against Wake Forest.
Next up for Virginia will be their most daunting task of the season, a match at No. 1 North Carolina on Friday. North Carolina ended Virginia’s record 140 match win streak against ACC schools earlier this season in the ITA indoor finals with a 4-2 win. The match did not count towards the league record because it came in tournament play. Nonetheless, the Cavaliers will be seeking revenge and hoping to re-assert their dominance in the ACC.
On the road trip, they will also play Duke, Florida, Georgia Tech and Clemson.
