Hokie ClubCOLUMBUS – No. 35 Virginia Tech fell to No. 26 Kentucky, 4-0 on Friday afternoon in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship in Columbus, Ohio.
The Wildcats (15-11) got out to the early lead after taking the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Tech's duo of Abraham Asaba and Jason Kros held the 5-4 advantage on three when the point was decided.
Kentucky won the needed singles points on courts six, four and two, but the Hokies held the advantage in the remaining matches. On court one, No. 29 Mitch Harpertrailed No. 8 Ryotaro Matsumura 3-1 in the opening set, but rallied back, to take the set in a tiekbreaker 7-6(3). The two were tied at 1 in the second set.
Alexandre Ribeiro took the first set at three 7-5 over Enzo Wallart and trailed on-serve in the second set 1-0 when the team win was decided.
Carlo Donato also held the advantage, leading Kento Yamada at the five after winning the opening set 6-3. Donato trailed 3-0 in the second, but had come back to tie it up at 3 before it went unfinished.
The Hokies wrap up the dual season with a 17-8 overall record. Harper will be back on the court May 23 for the opening round of NCAA Singles Championship. He will be joined in Winston-Salem, North Carolina by the Hokies' No. 27 duo of Henrik Korsgaard and Ribeiro for the doubles competition.
Singles
1. #29 Mitch Harper (VT) vs. #8 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 7-6(3), 1-1 dnf
2. #50 Will Bushamuka (UK) def. Jason Kros (VT) 6-3, 6-1
3. Alexandre Ribeiro (VT) vs. Enzo Wallart (UK) 7-5, 0-1 dnf
4. Trey Yates (UK) def. Henrik Korsgaard (VT) 6-2, 6-2
5. Carlo Donato (VT) vs. Kento Yamada (UK) 6-3, 3-3 dnf
6. Austin Hussey (UK) def. Freddy Mesmer (VT) 7-5, 6-1
Order of finish: 6,4,2
Doubles
1. #13 Gus Benson/Cesar Bourgois (UK) def. #27 Korsgaard/Ribeiro (VT) 6-2
2. Hussey/Bushamuka (UK) def. #54 Donato/Harper (VT) 6-4
3. Abraham Asaba/J. Kros (VT) vs. Matsumura/Wallart (UK) 5-4 dnf
Order of finish: 1,2