TAMPA, March 9, 2019 – USF men's tennis took an early lead and registered wins over ranked opponents in two matches of a 4-3 loss to No. 4 Virginia on Sunday. 
 
USF (7-5) started doubles action with Jakub Wojcik (Delray Beach, Florida) and Ivan Yatsuk (Minsk, Belarus) posting a 6-3 win over the No. 71 pair Henrisk Wiersholm and Brandon Nakasima on court two.
 
No. 77 pair Alberto Barroso-Campos (Montijo, Spain) and Pierre Luquet (Draguignan, France) secured the doubles point for the Bulls with a 6-4 court one finish, improving their record to 5-2.
 
Trailing 1-0, Virginia answered with a 6-3, 6-1 court three win over Luquet, 6-4, 7-5, and a court two finish by No. 50 Brandon Nakashima over Ferguson.
 
No. 29 Barroso-Campos kept USF in the match with a 6-0, 7-6 (5) win against No. 15 Carl Soderlund, improving his singles record to 11-1. 
 
Despite Wojcik falling, 6-7, 3-6, on court four to No.92 Gianni Ross, freshman Sergio Gomez Montesa (Valencia, Spain) tied the match with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 takedown of Matthew Lord on court six.
 
Tied 3-3, the Bulls needed to secure one last court to defeat the fourth-ranked team in the country. Yatsuk closed out match play for the Bulls on court five, forcing a third set after going 4-6, 6-4 in the first two. No. 96 Aswin Lizen eventually clinched the match for the Cavaliers, winning the third set, 6-3.
 
 
Quotable
Head coach Ashley Fisher on nearly defeating No. 4 Virginia:
 
"I'm really proud and excited about the trajectory of this group right now. We talk a lot about wanting to keep our eyes on the direction and it's special to see how far we have come. This loss stings a little, but what we will take from it is when we commit to playing as unit with the right energy and intensity, we can compete with any team."
 
Match Results
 
Doubles
1. #77 Alberto Barroso-Camp/Pierre Luquet (USF) def. Carl Soderlund/William Woodall (VA) 6-4
2. Jakub Wojcik/Ivan Yatsuk (USF) def. #71 Henrik Wiersholm/Brandon Nakashima (VA) 6-3
3. Aswin Lizen/Ryan Goetz (VA) vs. Chase Ferguson/Sergio Gomez Montesa (USF) no result
 
Singles
1. #29 Alberto Barroso-Camp (USF) def. #15 Carl Soderlund (VA) 6-0, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #50 Brandon Nakashima (VA) def. Chase Ferguson (USF) 6-2, 7-5
3. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) def. Pierre Luquet (USF) 6-3, 6-1
4. #92 Gianni Ross (VA) def. Jakub Wojcik (USF) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
5. #96 Aswin Lizen (VA) def. Ivan Yatsuk (USF) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
6. Sergio Gomez Montesa (USF) def. Matthew Lord (VA) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
 
Up Next
The Bulls end their busy stretch with a home match against George Washington on Monday at 1:30 p.m. Admission is free at the USF Varsity Courts.

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