BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech men's tennis team (7-8, 1-4) fell to No. 13 Duke (11-4, 4-0), 4-3, on Friday afternoon.
After a tough road trip the Hokies returned home to face a formidable Duke team that had reeled off four-straight victories. Tech was the aggressor to start the match with Matt Harper and Frank Thompson flying ahead to eventually claim their doubles match on Court 3. Ryan Fishback and Jordan Chrysostom started out slow, down 1-2 to start, but followed it up with an impressive effort storming back to win, 6-4, claiming the doubles point for Tech.
The Blue Devils found their footing in singles with wins on Court 5 and 3 to take the 2-1 lead. Scott Sculley put together one of his best matches of the season, falling behind in the second set 5-3, the Hilton Head, S.C. native roared back to win, 7-5, and force a decisive third set. Sculley cruised from there, winning 6-3 to tie the match at two all.
After Duke claimed the win on Court 5 all eyes turned to Court's 1 and 2 to decide the match. Alvaro Saez-Royeula Ariza jumped ahead winning the first set 6-4 and taking a lead 5-3 in the second set but couldn't hold on. Ryan Fishback closed the match on a high note in a high-intensity affair. The Geneva, N.Y. native lost the first set tie break but pushed the match to a third set, winning the tiebreak 9-7, before closing the door on No. 12 Garrett Johns, 6-7(2), 7-6(7), 6-3 to secure his second ranked win this season.
UP NEXT
The Hokies host No. 9 North Carolina on Sunday, March 19 at 2 p.m.
