Altamirano, Virginia face battle in NCAA semifinals

Collin Altamirano of Sacramento and No. 3 Virginia
will face No. 2 Baylor, playing on its home courts,
in Monday's NCAA semifinals in Waco, Texas.
2014 photo by Paul Bauman

   The picnic is over for Sacramento's Collin Altamirano and the Virginia men.
   The third-ranked Cavaliers have won all four of their NCAA Tournament matches 4-0. On Monday, however, they will face second-ranked Baylor, playing on its home courts, in the semifinals in Waco, Texas.
   Baylor is 2-0 against Virginia this season, winning 4-3 in February in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago and 5-2 in March in Waco.
   "We are looking forward to the opportunity to play Baylor in the semifinals," Virginia coach Brian Boland said on virginiasports.com. "They are a great team, which we saw in the two matches earlier this season when they beat us.
   "They are the No. 2 team in the nation, playing on their home courts in front of their fans and should be the favorites. We embrace the underdog role."
   Virginia (27-3), the 2013 NCAA champion, reached the semis for the sixth consecutive year by dismissing fifth-ranked Texas A&M (24-5) on Saturday.
   Altamirano, a freshman, and J.C. Aragone defeated AJ Catanzariti and Arthur Rinderknech 8-5 at No. 3 doubles.
   Altamirano trailed Rinderknech, a freshman from France, 1-6, 6-1, 0-1 at No. 3 singles when the match was abandoned because Virginia clinched the overall victory. Altamirano is ranked No. 77, and Rinderknech is No. 84.
   Baylor (25-5) eliminated eighth-ranked USC (25-5), the defending champion, 4-2. In the other semifinal, No. 1 Oklahoma (28-2) will face No. 6 Texas Christian (25-7).  
   In the women's quarterfinals, 14th-ranked Stanford (18-5) will play No. 7 Georgia (23-6) today at 10 a.m. PDT.