Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech (9-8, 2-7) struggled to capitalize on momentum in key moments, falling to No. 2 Virginia (17-4, 9-0), 1-6, in the Commonwealth Clash.
Doubles play finished with a tall task for the recently ranked 76th duo of Ryan Fishback and Maxime St. Hilaire, as they fell to the No. 6 pairing of Iñaki Montes and James Hopper. It started similarly as Hugo Maia and Manuel Goncalves found themselves in a 3-6 loss, going against Chris Rodesch and Edoardo Graziani. Tech would be able to snag a victory on court two, where Matt Harper and Alberto Orso earned a strong 6-4 win.
On court five, freshman Benjamin Pomeranets struggled against an experienced opponent and fell 1-6, 1-6, to Alexander Kiefer. No. 89 Ryan Fishback faced yet another grueling test, as a lineup change for Virginia would see him face No. 6 Chris Rodesch. Fishback would fall in two sets.
Despite winning his first set and going to three consecutive match points, Michael Shepheard failed to close out his match against No. 50 Dylan Dietrich, falling 6-3, 5-7, 2-6.
Maxime St. Hilaire was another Hokie who would claim his first set against a ranked opponent. He would eventually fall to No. 52 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg in the remaining sets, 4-6, 1-6. Hugo Maia showed grit in his match, falling in two 6-7 tiebreakers, the first going 11-9 and the second going 8-6 in favor of Virginia's Mäns Dahlberg.
The lone point for the Hokies would come on court six, as Alberto Orso won his match in a third-set tiebreaker, 11-9. This is the second time this season that Orso has won a final set tiebreaker by that specifc score.
The loss gives the Cavaliers one point in the Commonwealth Clash, presented by Smithfield. The score for the Commonwealth Clash currently is 9.0.-6.0 in favor of Virginia. For more information, visit hokiesports.com/clash.
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UP NEXT
Tech looks to bounce back on Friday, April 5 against Boston College at 3:00 p.m., which is also the final home match of the season and senior day for five members of the squad.