Miami Falls To No. 4 Virginia, 4-1

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team (10-8, 2-5 ACC) fell, 4-1, in a hard-fought battle against No. 4 Virginia (16-4, 8-0 ACC) in a match that spanned over two days at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

Due to inclement weather, Friday’s competition against the Cavaliers started with singles in case the winner was determined without the need of doubles play. The teams played into the second set before the rain stopped the match to postpone it to Monday.

The only court to finish on day one was Virginia’s No. 10 Chris Rodesch defeating Miami’s Antonio Prat at the top court, 6-1, 6-2. Picking up on the scores from Friday, the Cavaliers took the first win on court three, with No. 59 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg of UVA notching the 6-1, 7-5 win over Vladislav Melnic.

Martin Katz put the Hurricanes on the board after picking up his third ranked win of the season, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against No. 53 Dylan Dietrich on court two. Despite having the momentum, Virginia went on to take the next two courts to secure the win.

Alexander Kiefer claimed court four in a back-and-forth battle in three sets over Adrien Burdet, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, while Edoardo Graziani clinched the win after a 6-0, 6-1 score against Alejandro Arraya on court six. Sam Baumgartner was even with Edoardo Graziani, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 2-2, on court five when play was halted.

Because of the clinch in singles, the teams did not continue into doubles action.

The Hurricanes will hit the road to face the Clemson Tigers in Clemson, S.C., on Thursday, March 28.