RICHMOND – The No. 35 Virginia Tech men's tennis team leaves the states capital with a 4-3 victory after going down to the wire against No. 36 VCU on Wednesday afternoon.
After dropping the doubles point, the Hokies (10-7, 5-5 ACC) went on to take four courts over the Rams (12-3, 3-0 A10) in singles competition.
Tech dropped the first set in five of six matches. The lone Hokie to win in straight sets was Hugo Maia, who earned a point on Court 4 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
The Hokies fell in a 3-1 hole before Mitch Harper forced his match on Court 1 to a third-set tiebreaker that he ultimately won, securing a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory. Carlo Donato also rallied in a third set on Court 3, handling his opponent 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to even the overall score at 3-3.
Alvaro Saez-Royuela Ariza was the man of the match for Tech on Court 6, as he followed the pattern of his teammates rallying in the second and third set. Ariza clinched the ranked win for Virginia Tech with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win.
The Hokies return to action on Friday, April 16, at 1:30 p.m. to face Louisville (8-8, 2-5) on the road.
