Canes Fall in Second Round of ACC Championship
ROME, Ga. – Following a two and a half hour rain delay, the University of Miami men’s tennis team came up short against No. 34 Duke University, 4-1, Thursday, in the second round of the ACC Championship.
“We fought hard today. We put ourselves in a position where the match could have gone either way, but in the end credit goes to Duke,” said head coach Aljosa Piric.
Duke (16-8, 8-4 ACC) struck first in doubles play with No. 29 Nick Stachowiak and Spencer Furman defeating No. 55 seniors Max Andrews and Jesse Flores, 6-1.
Miami pulled even, when juniors Piotr Lomacki and Nile Clark defeated Jason Lapidus and Ryan Dickerson, 6-3.
Moments later, the Hurricanes earned the point as junior Christian Langmo and sophomore Dane Dunlap took down Catalin Mateas and TJ Pura, 6-3.
Holding the one-point advantage, the Hurricanes turned to singles play.
No. 64 Lomacki dropped the opening set against No. 84 Furman before withdrawing from the match.
With the match even at 1-1, Duke doubled its lead over Miami when Pura defeated Clark, 6-2, 6-2.
At No. 4, Flores dropped his match against Stachowiak, 2-6, 5-7, before Dickerson clinched the match for Duke with a victory over Dunlap, 0-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Following the clinching of the match play was halted with the Canes looking to close out a pair of singles victories on courts two and three.
After opening the match with a first-set victory, 7-6, Andrews was even with Levin in the second set 4-4 at the stoppage of play.
On court two, after dropping the opening set, 5-7, Langmo cruised past No. 96 Mateas in the second set, 6-2. In the final set the match was all evened up, 5-7, 6-2, 2-2, before the match was declared unfinished.
The 12th-seeded Hurricanes end the season 8-13 overall with a 2-9 mark in the ACC. Miami defeated Boston College in the opening round of the ACC tournament to win its first tournament match since 2010, and finished 7-6 at home.
Lomacki led the way for the Canes with a 12-9 singles mark, all at the No. 1 position, while he teamed up with Clark to finish 11-3 on the season in doubles play.
Andrews and Flores teamed up to finish 8-8 as a tandem, all at the top spot, most notably taking down the nation’s top-ranked doubles team Skander Mansouri and Christian Seraphim of Wake Forest. The pair also took down Notre Dame’s Josh Hagar and Eddy Covalschi, then-No. 24, and Minnesota’s Matic Spec and Felix Corwin, then-No. 39, to earn three victories against opponents ranked in the ITA doubles polls.
As a team, Miami went 29-21 in doubles play, taking the doubles point in 12 of a possible 20 matches.
“This was a tough year, lots of ups and downs,” said Piric. “We will build on what we have learned; we will get tougher and we will be better.”
Duke 4, Miami 1
Singles Competition
1. Spencer Furman (DU) def. Piotr Lomacki (UM) 7-5
2. Catalin Mateas (DU) vs. Christian Langmo (UM) 7-5, 2-6, 2-2, unfinished
3. Robert Levine (DU) vs. Max Andrews (UM) 6-7, 4-4, unfinished
4. Nick Stachowiak (DU) def. Jesse Flores (UM) 6-2, 7-5
5. TJ Pura (DU) def. Nile Clark (UM) 6-2, 6-2
6. Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Dane Dunlap (UM) 0-6, 6-1, 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. Nick Stachowiak/Spencer Furman (DU) def. Max Andrews/Jesse Flores (UM) 6-1
2. Piotr Lomacki/Nile Clark (UM) def. Jason Lapidus/Ryan Dickerson (DU) 6-3
3. Dane Dunlap/Christian Langmo (UM) def. Catalin Mateas/TJ Pura (DU) 6-3
Match Notes
No. 34 Duke 16-8, 8-4 ACC
Miami 9-13, 2-9 ACC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,5,4,6)
