Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech men’s tennis team closed out a remarkable six-match homestand this afternoon by playing host to the #20 Louisville Cardinals. The #35 Hokies eked out a 4-3 victory over the top-20 team, to finish 6-0 on the homestand and win their seventh straight match. Tech has not lost since Feb. 11, when it fell at #1 Virginia, 6-1. The win lifts the Hokies to 10-4, while the Cardinals slip to 8-6. The victory was also the 200th career win at Virginia Tech for head coach Jim Thompson whose record stands at 200-128 in his 13th year in Blacksburg.
The Hokies began the match by earning the first point, winning two out of the three doubles matches. Pedro Graber (r-Sr., Santiago, Chile) and Will Beck (Sr., Potomac, Md.) led off, earning an 8-5 victory in No.1 doubles, defeating 16th-ranked Austen Childs and Viktor Maksimcuk. Robert Hall and Amaury Derognat then defeated Tech’s Trpimir Kujundzic (So., Zagreb, Croatia) and Lucas Oliveira (So., Sao Paulo, Brazil), 8-5, in the No. 3 spot, before #76 Luka Somen (Jr., Karlovac, Croatia) and Corrado Degl’Incerti Tocci (Jr., Reggio Emilia, Italy) won the clincher, downing Simon Childs and Alejandro Calligari, 8-6.
The Cardinals tied the score at one, as #115 Maksimcuk defeated Patrick Daciek (Jr., Severna Park, Md.) 6-2, 6-3, in No. 2 singles. The score was then knotted at two, as Calligari defeated Tocci, 6-3, 6-4, in the No. 4 singles spot, and Will Beck defeated Robert Hall, 6-4, 6-2, in No. 5 singles.
After #12 Austen Childs took the first set, 6-3, from #51 Luka Somen in No. 1 singles, Somen stormed back with a 6-3 victory in the second set. However, Childs then claimed a decisive victory in the third set, 6-1, to earn a third point for Louisville. However, Tripimir Kujundzic and Pedro Garber both earned victories in the third set of their respective singles matches, to give the Hokies a 4-3 victory, an undefeated homestand and their seventh straight win. Kujundzic won his No. 6 singles match, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, while Graber won the clincher, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, in the No. 3 spot.
The Hokies will take two weeks off, before heading to Virginia Commonwealth University for their next match on Sunday, March 20. Tech will face VCU in Richmond at 1 p.m.
#35 Virginia Tech 4, #20 Louisville 3
Singles
1. #12 Austen Childs (UL) def. #51 Luka Somen (VT) 6-3, 3-6 6-1
2. #115 Viktor Maksimcuk (UL) def. Patrick Daciek (VT) 6-2, 6-3
3. Pedro Graber (VT) def. Simon Childs (UL) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5
4. Alejandro Calligari (UL) def. Carrado Degl’ Incerti Tocci (VT) 6-3, 6-4
5. Will Beck (VT) def. Robert Hall (UL) 6-4, 6-2
6. Trpimir Kujundzic (VT) def. Andrew Carter (UL) 7-6, 1-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 1, 6, 3*
Doubles
1. Graber/Beck (VT) def. #16 A. Childs/Maksimcuk (UL) 8-5
2. #76 Somen/Degl’Incerti Tocci (VT) def. S. Childs/Calligari (UL) 8-6
3. Hall/Amaury Derognat (UL) def. Kujundzic/Lucas Oliveira (VT) 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2*
*clinching point