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| Sacramento's Collin Altamirano, the 2013 USTA 18-and- under champion, helped No. 3 Virginia topple No. 1 Okla- homa 4-1 for the NCAA title. 2014 photo by Paul Bauman |
The 19-year-old Sacramentan today added an NCAA team title to his 2013 USTA 18-and-under national championship. He also reached last year's USTA 18-and-under final, losing to Wimbledon junior boys champion Noah Rubin.
Altamirano, a freshman, won both of his matches as third-ranked Virginia toppled No. 1 Oklahoma 4-1 in Waco, Texas, for its second NCAA team crown in three years.
"I couldn't be more proud of the players," Virginia coach Brian Boland said on virginiasports.com. "They have bought in to being a true team, and the culture was tremendous. It has been a great journey with this group, and I am so glad we could end this season with a championship. There is nothing more special for me than to see a group of young men work hard, come together and do things the right way, and then celebrate in the end."
The No. 4 Vanderbilt women (25-6) beat No. 6 UCLA (23-5), the defending champion, 4-2 for their first title.
The Virginia men had lost to Oklahoma 4-3 on March 10 in Norman, Okla. Also, the Cavaliers had been 0-2 this season against tournament host Baylor before defeating the No. 2 Bears 4-2 on Monday.
Virginia (29-3) became the sixth program in the 70-year history of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships to win multiple titles. The Cavaliers joined USC (21), Stanford (17), UCLA (16), Georgia (six) and William and Mary (two).
Oklahoma (29-3), seeking its first NCAA title, lost in the final for the second consecutive year under coach John Roddick. His younger brother, former world No. 1 Andy Roddick, attended the match.
Altamirano and J.C. Aragone clinched the doubles point for Virginia with an 8-5 victory over Axel Alvarez and Jose Salazar 8-5 on Court 3. Altamirano, ranked 77th in singles, later gave the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead by dismissing No. 44 Dane Webb 6-3, 6-3 at the third position.
No. 20 Mitchell Frank clinched the title for Virginia with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over No. 7 Andrew Harris on Court 2. Harris won the 2012 Wimbledon and French Open junior boys doubles titles with fellow Australian Nick Kyrgios, now ranked 30th in the world at age 20.
Frank, a senior from Annadale, Va., also clinched the Cavaliers' 2013 crown but under much more stress. He saved a championship point in a 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over UCLA's Adrien Puget at the third spot.
"I said it last time we won a national championship: If there was one player we could have on the court to clinch a match, it would be Mitchell Frank," Boland said. "They guy is a warrior. He loves the game and is incredibly unselfish. To his credit, he really put the team above himself this year."
Frank was named the NCAA Men's Championship Most Outstanding Player, and Altamirano made the All-Tournament team at No. 3 singles and No. 3 doubles.
Altamirano did not earn a berth in the NCAA 64-player singles or 32-team doubles tournament. Singles play will begin on Wednesday and doubles on Thursday.
UCLA's Mackenzie McDonald, a sophomore from Piedmont, is seeded third in men's singles. He will open against Lloyd Glasspool of Texas.
Cal's Andre Goransson will face fifth-seeded Sebastian Stiefelmeyer of Louisville, and Stanford's Tom Fawcett will meet the seventh-seeded Rubin of Wake Forest.
Stanford's John Morrissey and Robert Stineman are seeded 5-8 in doubles, and UCLA's McDonald and Martin Redlicki are unseeded.
Among the women's singles seeds are No. 2 Carol Zhao of Stanford, No. 4 Maegan Manasse of Cal and No. 9-16 Giuliana Olmos of USC and Fremont.
The field also includes Stanford's Taylor Davidson and Caroline Doyle; Cal's Klara Fabikova, Zsofi Susanyi and Denise Starr; and Fresno State's Sophie Watts.
Davidson and Zhao are seeded second in doubles, and Manasse-Starr and Fabikova-Susanyi are each seeded 5-8. Doyle-Ellen Tsay and Olmos-Zoe Scandalis are unseeded.
No. 3 Virginia 4, No. 1 Oklahoma 1
Doubles
1. No. 2 Luca Corinteli and Ryan Shane (Virginia) def. No. 57 Andrew Harris and Alex Ghilea 8-4.2. No. 42 Mac Styslinger and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Virginia) def. Dane Webb and Spencer Papa 8-5.
3. Collin Altamirano and J.C. Aragone (Virginia) def. Axel Alvarez and Jose Salazar 8-5.
Order of finish: 1,3,2
Singles
1. No. 8 Ryan Shane (Virginia) vs. No. 1 Axel Alvarez 4-6, 5-5, DNF.2. No. 20 Mitchell Frank (Virginia) def. No. 7 Andrew Harris 7-5, 7-5.
3. No. 77 Collin Altamirano (Virginia) def. No. 44 Dane Webb 6-3, 6-3.
4. No. 19 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (Virginia) def. No. 103 Alex Ghilea 6-3, 6-4.
5. Spencer Papa (Oklahoma) def. Alexander Ritschard 6-3, 6-2.
6. J.C. Aragone (Virginia) vs. Florin Bragusi 6-7 (5), 4-6, 1-0, DNF.
Order of finish: 5,3,4,2
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