Olympic Sports Roundup: Men’s Squash Advances to Semifinals
Posted on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, 6:30 am
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Courtesy UVA Sports Media Relations
The No. 9 Virginia men’s squash team defeated No. 16 Franklin and Marshall, 5-4, in the quarterfinals at the Hoehn Cup, the B Division of the College Squash Association Team Championships, on Friday at the Brady Squash Center in New Haven, Conn.
The 16-5 Cavaliers, who are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, will advance to Saturday’s semifinals to face No. 13 Drexel (6-9), the fifth-seed, at 3 p.m.
“Another grind it out win today,” head coach Mark Allen said. “Franklin and Marshall is a high quality, well coached team, and just like the other two times we have played them this season, it was four-all and came down to the final match. Once again the guys found a way, and with today’s win we are guaranteed to finish this season with our highest ever ranking – one that the guys fully deserve and have worked so hard for.
“This team is capable of even more though. We lost to tomorrow’s opponent Drexel at the very start of the season, but we have improved tremendously since then and do have a chance to make the final if we play our very best squash and continue to believe in ourselves. It promises to be another nail-biting match against another very good opponent.”
Despite opening the match with a loss in position three, Virginia took an early 2-1 lead with wins from sophomore Matthew Katz in position nine and freshman Glenn Yates in position six. Katz topped Allen Thompkins 11-2, 11-1, 11-9, while Yates defeated Boden Polikoff 11-6, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8.
The lead shifted to the Diplomats (14-7) as the Cavaliers fell in positions two and five, respectively, but an 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7 victory from sophomore Andrew Braff in position eight tied the score at 3-3.
Freshman Patrick McElroy picked up a 12-10, 7-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-4 victory against Shamseldeen Abbas at position one, but a loss for Virginia in position seven evened the score at 4-4.
Junior Toby Hansford recorded the deciding point in position four, battling through an 11-6, 0-11, 11-8, 11-7 four-game win against Yannis Senkel.
Friday’s win was the third time this season that Virginia defeated the Diplomats 5-4 in a match, and was the second time that Hansford clinched the deciding point against Franklin and Marshall.
No. 9 Virginia def. No. 16 Franklin and Marshall 5-4
1. Patrick McElroy (UVA) def. Shamseldeen Abbas (FM) 12-10, 7-11, 11-4, 4-11, 11-4
2. Sanjay Jeeva (FM) def. Will Holey (UVA) 11-7, 11-3, 11-4
3. Silvio Soom (FM) def. William Braff (UVA) 11-2, 11-7, 7-11, 12-10
4. Toby Hansford (UVA) def. Yannis Senkel (FM) 11-6, 0-11, 11-8, 11-7
5. Aryan Parekh (FM) def. Grayson Bubrosky (UVA) 12-10, 11-1, 11-8
6. Glenn Yates (UVA) def. Boden Polikoff (FM) 11-6, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8
7. Matthew Dukarm (FM) def. Jarett Odrich (UVA) 11-7, 11-9, 4-11, 8-11, 11-5
8. Andrew Braff (UVA) def. Ricardo Machado (FM) 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7
9. Matthew Katz (UVA) def. Allen Tompkins (FM) 11-2, 11-1, 11-9
Order of Finish: (3, 9, 6, 2, 5, 8, 1, 7, 4)
UVA Bests Stanford to Advance to ITA Indoors Quarterfinals
The Virginia men’s tennis team opened up the 2019 Oracle ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championship with a 4-2 victory over Stanford on Friday at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago, Ill.
The No. 9 seed Cardinal won the doubles point, but the Cavaliers (8-1) won three straight singles matches to go up 3-1. Stanford (6-2) picked up a win on court four to make it 3-2, but junior Carl Soderlund clinched the victory with a win on the top singles court.
Virginia, the No. 8 seed, will face top-seeded Ohio State (10-0) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET in the quarterfinals. Live scoring and live video will be available for the matches through links posted on VirginiaSports.com.
Freshman Brandon Nakashima started the Virginia rally by downing No. 33 William Genesen, 6-1, 6-2, on court three to knot the match at one. Moments later, senior Aswin Lizen finished up a 6-1, 6-4 victory on court six over Sangreet Sridhar. Freshman Ryan Goetz put UVA up 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Michael Genender. Stanford picked up a point on court four to make the match 3-2.
On court one, Söderlund won his first set 6-4 over No. 10 Axel Geller. Geller was serving down 5-6. Söderlund jumped out to a 40-0 advantage and finished off the game to pick up a break and clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.
Senior Henrik Wiersholm rebounded from a first-set loss to take his second set, 6-4, over No. 61 Alexandre Rotsaert, forcing a third set on court two, which was abandoned.
Semifinals will be played on Sunday, with the championship match scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m.
Virginia 4, Stanford 2
Singles
1. Carl Soderlund (VA) def. #10 Axel Geller (STAN) 6-4, 7-5
2. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) vs. #61 Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) 4-6, 6-4, 0-1, unfinished
3. Brandon Nakashima (VA) def. #33 William Genesen (STAN) 6-1, 6-2
4. #43 Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. #68 Gianni Ross (VA) 6-2, 6-4
5. #72 Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Michael Genender (STAN) 6-4, 6-0
6. Aswin Lizen (VA) def. Sangreet Sridhar (STAN) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
1. Axel Geller/Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) def. Carl Soderlund/William Woodall (VA) 6-1
2. Sameer Kumar/Timothy Sah (STAN) def. Henrik Wiersholm/Brandon Nakashima (VA) 6-4
3. Gianni Ross/Ryan Goetz (VA) vs. William Genesen/Jack Barber (STAN) 4-5, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,6,5,4,1)
Kraus Helps Lift No. 11 UVA Over Lehigh
The No. 11 Virginia Cavaliers (1-1) used an 8-2 run to overcome an early deficit and dispose of the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (1-2) on Friday night, 11-8, at Klöckner Stadium. The game which was originally schedule for Saturday was moved up a day due to a forecast for inclement weather in the Charlottesville area.
Cavalier goalie Alex Rode made three key saves in the third quarter, two of which came in man-down situations. The saves aided Virginia (1-1) in holding Lehigh scoreless for 18:28 from the second quarter until the fourth quarter.
For the second week in a row UVA scored first, but then found itself in a hole. Trailing 2-0, Lehigh (1-2) responded by scoring five goals in a row to take a 5-2 lead at 7:42 in the second quarter.
Lehigh owned a two-goal lead, 6-4, at halftime. UVA, who handed Lehigh three extra-man goals in the first half on four penalties, settled in nicely. Dox Aitken scored a big goal to lead the third-quarter scoring. Michael Kraus scored back-to-back goals to give UVA the lead for good.
Kraus extended his active-point scoring streak to 34 games, which is tied for No.4 in the nation heading into this weekend’s play. Aitken scored two goals, tying Rob Emery (73) for No. 10 all-time at UVA in career goals for a midfielder. The win gives UVA a win in its home opener in 14 of the last 15 seasons. Jeff Conner scored his first career goal.
Virginia returns home on Monday when High Point comes to Klöckner Stadium. Faceoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.
Virginia Picks Up First Two Wins of Season
Stellar pitching and clutch hitting carried Virginia to a pair of wins on the first day of the Elon Softball February Classic on Friday at Hunt Softball Park.
The Cavaliers (2-5) bounced back from a tough opening weekend to break through in the win column with a 4-2 victory over Northern Kentucky (0-1) before shutting out Hampton (0-1), 2-0. In the circle, three Virginia pitchers combined to not allow an earned run between the two games.
GAME 1: Virgina 4, Northern Kentucky 2 (8 innings)
Lacy Smith uncorked a pair of home runs and delivered all four RBI for Virginia in the opening game to power a 4-2 victory over Elon. The senior was a perfect 4 for 4 in the game.
Freshman Aly Rayle came out of the bullpen in the seventh to get the final out to send the game to extras. She went on to work a perfect eighth inning to earn her first collegiate win. Rayle (1-1) struck out a pair of Norse and did not allow a baserunner in her 1 1/3 innings.
In the international tiebreaker in the eighth inning, Smith followed a sacrifice bunt with a two-run home run, giving Virginia the lead for good. The veteran lifted a 2-0 offering from NKU pitcher Taylor Ginther (0-1) and curled it around the left field foul pole for the difference maker.
After Hayley Busby doubled to open the third inning, Smith tagged an RBI-single to left to plate the game’s opening run. NKU took the lead with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the third. An early error was followed by three, two-out singles to score the runs. Smith tied things up in the sixth inning with a lead-off shot to left center. Smith would go deep again in the eighth, providing the difference maker with her third home run of the season.
Smith’s two home runs mark the first time the senior has gone deep twice in a game during her career. Erika Osherow was excellent once again in the circle, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing only two unearned runs. Osherow fanned a season-high six batters while scattering four hits. She retired 12 consecutive batters from the third inning to the seventh. Busby finished the game 1-for-3 with a pair of runs scored.
GAME 2: Virginia 2, Hampton 0
Allyson Frei tossed a complete-game shutout, striking out 10 batters to lead Virginia to a 2-0 victory over Hampton. Olivia Gott plated the first run of the game with an RBI fielder’s choice in the fourth to give the Cavaliers the only run they would need in the game. The win gave the graduate transfer Frei (1-2) her first victory in the circle for the Cavaliers.
Hampton strung together three-straight singles to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fourth. Frei responded by inducing an infield fly and fanning back-to-back Pirates to escape the jam with the 1-0 lead intact.
Busby led off the fourth with a double and later singled on Gott’s fielder’s choice to give Virginia a 1-0 lead. Busby singled on a hard-hit ground ball and advanced to second on a throwing error to open the sixth. A ground ball off the bat of Smith eluded the Pirates on the right side, giving Virginia a 2-0 lead.
Frei’s 10 strikeouts are the most by a Virginia pitcher since Melanie Mitchell eclipsed the mark in 2013. Busby finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and scored both of Virginia’s runs. The shutout is the first for Virginia since a 6-0 win over Eastern Michigan on Feb. 18, 2018. Arizona Ritchie, Osherow and Gott all had 1-for-3 games at the plate. Frei did not issue a walk in the victory.
Virginia is scheduled to continue action at the Elon February Classic on Saturday against host Elon at 12:15 p.m.
