No. 43 Men's Tennis Falls at Virginia Tech
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team saw its four-match win streak come to an end in Blacksburg, Va., falling to Virginia Tech, 7-0, Sunday afternoon.
The Hurricanes (12-8, 3-5 ACC) played indoors for the first time this season and struggled to make the adjustment, while the Hokies (14-6, 5-5 ACC) improved to 10-2 at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center this season and 13-8 in the all-time series.
“Our guys were ready to play, we just could not adjust. It seemed like we were playing in slow motion on some of the courts,” Miami head coach Aljosa Piric said. “We need to learn from this, and have a better plan and mindset going forward, as this is not going to be the last indoor match we play this year.”
Miami led at two doubles courts early on, including a 3-0 advantage by 26th-ranked duo of senior Christian Langmo and freshman Adria Soriano, but Virginia Tech took the lead in the match. Henrik Korsgaard and Alex Ribeiro claimed the point by coming back for a 6-4 win against Langmo and Soriano.
Beforehand, Mitch Harper and Carlo Donato had downed redshirt sophomore Dane Dunlap and freshman Bojan Jankulovski, 6-3, at the No. 2 position.
On court 3, Miami’s duo of senior Nile Clark and freshman Tatsuki Shimamoto led at one point, but was held to 5-5 by Jason Kros and Abraham Asaba when doubles action was halted.
No. 68 Soriano had a promising start in singles play, winning the opening set against Kros in just seven games, but the latter came back for a 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-5 victory in the longest match of the day.
In the ranked matchup on main court, No. 107 Langmo forced a second-set tiebreaker against No. 39 Harper, but could not force a third set and fell 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
Earlier in the contest, Donato clinched Virginia Tech’s fourth straight victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win against senior Niclas Genovese in the matchup at the No. 5 position.
Korsgaard recorded the quickest singles victory of the day, defeating Jankulovski 6-2, 6-3, to double Virginia Tech’s lead.
At the bottom of the lineup, Fred Mesmer set up Donato for the clinch with a 6-3, 5-1 triumph over freshman Tatsuki Shimamoto.
In the No. 3 matchup, Ribeiro handed Dunlap his second straight loss, 6-2, 6-3.
Next week, the Canes will go further north, visiting Notre Dame on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and Boston College Sunday at noon.
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. Henrik Korsgaard/Alex Ribeiro (VT) def. No. 26 Christian Langmo/Adria Soriano (UM), 6-4
2. Mitch Harper/Carlo Donato (VT) def. Bojan Jankulovski/Dane Dunlap (UM), 6-3
3. Nile Clark/Pablo Aycart (UM) vs. Jason Kros/Abraham Asaba (VT), 5-5, unfinished
Singles Competition
1. No. 39 Mitch Harper def. No. 107 Christian Langmo (UM), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
2. Jason Kros (VT) def. No. 68 Adria Soriano (UM), 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 10-5
3. Alex Ribeiro (VT) def. Dane Dunlap (UM), 6-2, 6-3
4. Henrik Korsgaard (VT) def. Bojan Jankulovski (UM), 6-2, 6-3
5. Carlo Donato (VT) def. Niclas Genovese (UM), 6-2, 6-3
6. Fred Mesmer (VT) def. Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 6-3, 6-1
