CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – The Clemson men’s tennis team (10-13, 1-10 ACC) stole the doubles point and battled hard against No. 7 Virginia (19-4, 10-0 ACC) but came up short 4-1 Friday night.
The match started off on a high note for the Tigers as every court competed well against a tough Virginia team. The Cavaliers secured the first victory on Court 2 by a score of 6-3, but shortly after Jorge Plans Gonzalez and Ryuhei Azuma upset No. 74 Woodall/Montes 6-3 to tie things up. It all came down to Court 3 where Tim Pitts and Nini Dica, playing as a doubles team for the first time, came up clutch and won in a tiebreaker, 7-6 to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead.
While the Tigers looked to stay in the fight, the Cavaliers seized momentum in singles play, registering victories on Courts 6, 2 and 5 to give Virginia a 3-1 advantage. Azuma continued his streak of playing ranked opponents and took No. 10 Rodesch to a tiebreak in the second set on Court 1 but was unable to extend the match to a third set, resulting in a Virginia 4-1 win.
Up next, the Tigers will wrap up ACC play in Blacksburg, Va. as they take on Virginia Tech on Sunday, April 16 at 12:30 p.m.
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