Men’s Tennis Comes up Short at Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team dropped a closely contested match Sunday afternoon at No. 39 Virginia Tech, 5-2.
In doubles, the Hokies (6-4, 2-2 ACC) secured the early advantage when Ryan Kros and Carlo Donato took down Adria Soriano Barrera and Stephen Madonia, 6-4. Moments later, Hugo Maia and Michael Shepheard topped Stefan Milicevic and Bojan Jankulovski, 6-3.
In the lone match not to complete, No. 22 Franco Aubone and Benjamin Hannestad were looking to mount a comeback against Jordan Chrysostom and Ryan Fishback, trailing 5-6 when the doubles point was clinched.
In singles play, Virginia Tech quickly tripled its lead when Maia topped Hannestad, 6-0, 6-3, before Alvaro Ariza defeated Aubone, 6-3, 6-2.
Trailing 4-1 in the opening set, Oren Vasser secured five consecutive games and ultimately claimed Miami’s first point of the match with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Shepheard.
As Miami (3-5, 2-2 ACC) looked to claw its way back into the match, Jankulovski pulled the Hurricanes back within one-point when he took down Donato, 6-4, 6-3.
After dropping the opening set, Milicevic looked to keep the match alive in a back-and-forth second-set tiebreaker, but he came up just short, 1-6, 6-7 (6-8).
In the final match to conclude, Virginia Tech secured the 5-2 team victory after Matthis Ross defeated Adria Soriano Barrera, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Up next, Miami will travel to North Carolina for a pair of top-15 matches, first taking on No. 12 Wake Forest on Friday.
