No. 48 Men's Tennis Tops No. 22 Duke, 4-3
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Straight-set victories at the top four singles positions brought the University of Miami men’s tennis team its second top-25 win of the season, a 4-3 triumph over No. 22 Duke at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center Friday afternoon.
The Hurricanes (13-10, 4-7 ACC) bounced back after dropping the doubles point to the Blue Devils (15-11, 6-5 ACC) and clinched the match with two matches to go. This was Miami’s third victory in eight Atlantic Coast Conference matches this season that have been decided by the minimal margin.
With the win, the Canes prevented Duke from taking its first ever lead in the all-time series, improving to 25-24 in the series against the Blue Devils, which dates back to 1936.
“That was a huge, huge home win against a very good Duke team,” Miami head coach Aljosa Piric said. “Our guys responded really well after a tough couple of matches up at Notre Dame and Boston College. We came out ready to play, we came out playing to win and all eight guys on the team just laid their hearts on the line for each other and came out with a huge win.”
After the Canes had taken a 3-1 lead off of wins from redshirt sophomore Dane Dunlap, freshman Adria Soriano and senior Christian Langmo, respectively, it was freshman Bojan Jankulovski who clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Nick Stachowiak at the No. 3 position. The team’s singles leader this spring with an 18-5 record, Jankulovski had not played at No. 3 in over a month, but improved to 11-4 when placed in the top half of the lineup.
Dunlap tied the score with a speedy 6-3, 6-1 victory against Robert Levine with his fourth ACC win – third most on the team – and 11th overall this spring.
The Hurricanes took the lead for good through No. 108 Soriano at the top of the lineup, where the rookie took down No. 11 Nicolas Alvarez, 6-4, 6-2, for the first top-15 singles victory of his career. In his other top-25 win, Soriano, who improved to 13-6, defeated then-No. 24 Alexis Galarneau by the same scoreline in Miami’s previous best victory of the season, against then-No. 23 NC State.
No. 123 Langmo began his senior weekend in the best way possible – with a ranked victory against No. 100 Catalin Mateas, 6-2, 6-3.
Soriano’s and Langmo’s singles victories each came against a member of the duo that bested the No. 20 tandem in the nation, 7-5, early on the day to give Duke the lead in the match.
Senior Nile Clark and freshman Pablo Aycart fell to Ryan Dickerson and Jason Lapidus, 6-2, in the first doubles match to finish.
As doubles play halted, Jankulovski and Dunlap were going neck-in-neck, 5-5, with No. 87 Nick Stachowiak and Sean Sculley.
Dickerson contributed the Blue Devils’ second point of the day, coming away as a winner in a three-set match against freshman Tatsuki Shimamoto at the bottom of the lineup, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
The other three-set match also went Duke’s way, as Spencer Furman clawed his way to a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory against senior Niclas Genovese on court 5.
Miami will be back in action sooner than expected, with the Senior Day doubleheader opener against No. 7 North Carolina moved to 9 a.m., Sunday due to inclement weather. The Canes will top off their regular season with a match against Dayton, which will start no earlier than 2 p.m.
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. Nicolas Alvarez/Catalin Mateas (DU) def. No. 20 Christian Langmo/Adria Soriano (UM), 7-5
2. Bojan Jankulovski/Dane Dunlap (UM) vs. No. 87 Nick Stachowiak/Sean Sculley (DU), 5-5, unfinished
3. Jason Lapidus/Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Nile Clark/Pablo Aycart (UM), 6-2
Singles Competition
1. No. 108 Adria Soriano (UM) def. No. 11 Nicolas Alvarez (DU), 6-4, 6-2
2. No. 123 Christian Langmo (UM) def. No. 100 Catalin Mateas (DU), 6-2, 6-3
3. Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Nick Stachowiak (DU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Dane Dunlap (UM) def. Robert Levine (DU), 6-3, 6-1
5. Spencer Furman (DU) def. Niclas Genovese (UM), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
6. Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
