Miami Blanks William & Mary to Mark Return Home
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – It had been 72 years since the last matchup, but the University of Miami men’s tennis team showed that it remembers how to win against William & Mary, blanking the Tribe, 5-0, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center Sunday afternoon.
The Hurricanes (7-5) lost only one set against the Tribe (7-6) and improved to 3-1 in the all-time series. Freshman Tatsuki Shimamoto claimed second straight home match for Miami at the No. 6 position – 6-3, 6-1 against Brenden Volk – after Wiliam & Mary had won the last meeting in 1946.
“William & Mary is a dangerous team, they have had some success this year, but we responded well after a loss to Florida State,” Miami head coach Aljosa Piric said. “Our guys showed up ready to play. They corrected a lot of things, we played hard and got a good W.”
Miami’s toughness showed from the very start of the day as the No. 1 tandem in the match, seniors Christian Langmo and Nile Clark overcame a 4-1 deficit to defeat Alec Miller and Tristan Bautil, 7-5, to claim the doubles point.
Redshirt sophomore Dane Dunlap and freshman Bojan Jankulovski, another pair used for the first time this season, downed Volk and Michael Chen, 6-4, at the No. 3 position to get the Hurricanes going.
The freshman duo of Pablo Aycart and Adria Soriano was ahead 2-1 in the tiebreaker against Christian Cargill and Louis Newman when their teammates on court 1 claimed the first point in the dual.
Dunlap got his day off to a perfect start, grabbing a quick 6-1, 6-3, victory over Finbar Talcott at the No. 4 position to double Miami’s lead.
No. 99 Langmo extended his singles win streak to eight matches after downing the Tribe’s No. 1, Miller, 6-1, 6-2.
Moments after Shimamoto’s clinching victory, Jankulovski grabbed Miami’s final point at court, defeating Newman to improve to 8-3 in the spring.
At No. 2, Soriano had won the opening set, 6-4, and was trailing Cargill, 4-3, in set two before play was halted. Soriano could not finish second straight match and thus remained 7-2 in singles on the year.
William & Mary won its only set of the match after Sebastian Quiros prevailed over senior Niclas Genovese, 11-9, in a painfully close tiebreaker. The second set was not started.
“We’ve got to continue to get better, we’ve got to continue to get tougher and use these matches as opportunities to learn, to grow and rise up in the same way when we play ACC opposition,” Piric said.
Miami plays the second half of its non-conference doubleheader at 4 p.m., taking on Cleveland State in its first-ever contest against a current Horizon League member.
For all of the latest news around Miami’s men’s tennis team, follow @CanesMensTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,or go to HurricaneSports.com.
RESULTS
Doubles Competition
1. Christian Langmo/Nile Clark (UM) def. Tristan Bautil/Alec Miller (WMM), 7-5
2. Pablo Aycart /Adria Soriano (UM) vs. Christian Cargill/Louis Newman (WMM), 6-6 (2-1), unfinished
3. Dane Dunlap/Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Michael Chen/Brenden Volk (WMM), 6-4
Singles Competition
1. No. 99 Christian Langmo (UM) def. Alec Miller (WMM), 6-1, 6-2
2. Adria Soriano (UM) vs. Christian Cargill (WMM), 6-4, 3-4, unfinished
3. Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Louis Newman (WMM), 6-1, 6-1
4. Dane Dunlap (UM) def. Finbar Talcott (WMM), 6-1, 6-3
5. Sebastian Quiros (WMM) vs. Niclas Genovese (UM), 6-7 (9-11), unfinished
6. Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM) def. Brenden Volk (WMM), 6-3, 6-1
