Hokies battled it out against Cal, but fell short Sunday eveningHokies battled it out against Cal, but fell short Sunday evening
Men's Tennis

Hokies battled it out against Cal, but fell short Sunday evening

In a three-and-a-half-hour back-and-forth match, the Hokies kept it competitive, but weren’t able to overcome the Golden Bears.

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BLACKSBURG — In a Sunday evening battle, the Hokies dropped 7-0 to No. 14 Cal, but played a tight match that was narrower than the final score suggests. 

In a close-fought contest, the Hokies kept themselves in it the whole way through. Tech fought in deep singles matches, over half of which were brought to three sets or resulted in multiple tiebreakers.

Tech dropped the doubles point to open the match, but Scott Sculley and Maxime St. Hilaire were up 5-4 when Cal clinched the point. 

The Hokies fell on Courts No. 2 and 5 to start singles. Down 3-0 but four Hokies playing close sets, the energy was high at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. Maxime St. Hilaire fought against No. 9 Carl Overbeck, extending the match to three sets with a tiebreaker win in the second. Patrik Jurina also put up a good fight with a first set win 7-6 (7-5) and a tight second set. Victor Kimpel narrowly lost to his opponent, with both sets ending in tiebreakers. The remaining three matches played out after Cal clinched on Court No. 6.

The squad hits the road next weekend to face Louisville on Friday, March 28 at 3 p.m. and Notre Dame on Sunday, March 30 at noon. 

Singles competition

  1.  #9 Carl Emil Overbeck (CAL) def. Maxime St. Hilaire (VT) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3 
  2. #37 Theo Dean (CAL) def. Ilyas Fahim (VT) 6-4, 6-4
  3. Timofey Stepanov (CAL) def. Patrik Jurina (VT) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-0
  4. Derrick Chen (CAL) def. Scott Sculley (VT) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
  5. Lechno-Wasiutynski (CAL) def. Alberto Orso (VT) 6-1, 6-4
  6. Bernardo Munk Mesa (CAL) def. Victor Kimpel (VT) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7)

Doubles competition

  1. Theo Dean/Derrick Chen (CAL) def. #65 Matt Harper/Alberto Orso (VT) 6-4
  2. Scott Sculley/Maxime St. Hilaire (VT) vs. Carl Emil Overbeck/Timofey Stepanov (CAL) 5-4, unfinished
  3. Mikey Wright/ Lechno-Wasiutynski (CAL) def. Victor Kimpel/Eyal Shumilov (VT) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,5,6,4,1,3)