Hokies upset No. 12 Florida State, 4-3

Tied at 3-3, Harper clinches the match with win on court one

April 6, 2018

BLACKSBURG – With the match tied at 3-3, junior Mitch Harper clinched the win on court one as the Virginia Tech men’s tennis team upset 12th-ranked Florida State, 4-3 on Friday afternoon in an ACC contest at Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center.

Harper, ranked No. 39, won the first set 6-4 over No. 51 Aziz Dougaz. In the second set, the two kept it close and were tied at 6-6 to force the tiebreak. Harper trailed 2-4 in the tiebreak before coming back to win five straight points to secure it 7-4, taking the match for the Hokies.

Mitch Harper talks about his win today, clinching the match for the #Hokies vs. #12 FSU.

🦃🎾 pic.twitter.com/HOICzD6exl

— VT Men's Tennis (@HokiesMTennis) April 6, 2018

Tech (13-6, 4-6 ACC) started the day winning the doubles point with decisive victories on courts two and three. Carlo Donato and Mitch Harper paired up at two to roll past Florida State’s (22-2, 6-1 ACC) 33rd-ranked Jose Gracia and Lucas Poullain 6-1. The Hokies clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win from Abraham Asaba and Jason Kros on court three.

Florida State responded in singles, winning the matches on courts two and three to take a 3-2 lead before Tech’s Henrik Korsgaard tied it up with a win at four. Korsgaard knocked off Gracia with straight set scores of 6-3, 6-3.

Donato put the Hokies up 3-2 as he defeated Chase Wood 6-1, 6-3 at five. The Seminoles won the match at six to set up the deciding match on court one.

Harper had been in this spot before against Florida State as he had the deciding match on court five in 2016, the last time the Seminoles came to Blacksburg. Harper fell in that match in a three-set heartbreaker [7-6(5), 4-6, 6-7(4)], but had redemption today, clinching it for the Hokies.

Virginia Tech will be back on the court Sunday, hosting No. 43 Miami at noon.

Singles
1. #39 Mitch Harper (VT) def. #51 Aziz Dougaz (FSU) 6-4, 7-6(4)
2. #18 Guy Iradukunda (FSU) def. Jason Kros (VT) 6-3, 6-2
3. #32 Lucas Poullain (FSU) def. Alex Ribeiro (VT) 6-4, 6-2
4. Henrik Korsgaard (VT) def. Jose Gracia (FSU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Carlo Donato (VT) def. Chase Wood (FSU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Terrell Whitehurst (FSU) def. Freddy Mesmer (VT) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 2,3,4,5,6,1

Doubles
1. Korsgaard/Ribeiro (VT) vs. Dougaz/Iradukunda (FSU) 5-4 dnf
2. Donato/Harper (VT) def. #33 Gracia/Poullain (FSU) 6-1
3. Asaba/J. Kros (VT) def. Terrell Whitehurst/Terrance Whitehurst (FSU) 6-3
Order of finish: 2,3

For updates on Virginia Tech men's tennis, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @HokiesMTennis