The Stanford men’s tennis team fell on Saturday afternoon to top-ranked and undefeated Virginia in a gut-wrenching confrontation that came down to the last match — a duel between two seniors. The No. 8 Cardinal laid it all out on the court early Saturday evening, but its best effort came up just short. UVA defeated Stanford 4-3 as the shadows were lengthening over the Taube Tennis Center.

It was a match that people will long remember and a match that was on the brink of going down in the great trove of Stanford tennis annals as one of the most memorable wins in recent years — but it was just not meant to be.

Building on the electric atmosphere from the Cardinal’s victorious match against Texas A&M on Thursday, the crowd at Taube was fiery on Saturday, occasionally getting a little too engaged in the matches as, on several occasions, the chair umpires had to ask for decorum in the stadium to be maintained.

UVA senior standout Sanam Singh — the man who struck the winning shot for the Cavaliers in his back-and-forth decisive match against Stanford senior Alex Clayton — said as much in his postgame news conference.

“We knew going into the match that it was going to be very hostile,” he said. I’ve played in some very hostile environments before, but that was probably the most hostile I’ve ever played in. Everything was stacked against us.”

Much of Stanford’s (21-6) success this season rested on its excellent doubles play; the Cardinal’s cumulative dual-match doubles record heading into the NCAA tournament was an impressive 48-16. But on Saturday against UVA (33-0), just as on Thursday against A&M, Stanford lost the doubles point.

Heading into singles play after losing the often pivotal doubles point can be difficult, and the Cardinal showed that on Saturday, quickly losing two matches on the fourth and sixth courts to go down 3-0 — on the brink of a speedy exit. But then Stanford’s upperclassmen and top singles players asserted themselves.

Junior Ryan Thacher was the first to post a point for the Cardinal, dispatching the towering Alex Domijan, ranked No. 2 nationally, for Thacher’s most impressive victory of the year. Thacher’s win gave the crowd — and his teammates — critical momentum. Fellow junior Bradley Klahn’s straight-set dismantling of fifth-ranked Michael Shabaz followed Thacher’s victory. Stanford was then firmly back in the match and down just one point. Several tension-filled minutes later, a vociferous cheer erupted from the back courts at Taube, signaling that sophomore Matt Kandath, playing on court five, had just outlasted his opponent Justin Shane and emerged victorious in their closely contested, three-set affair.

Suddenly, Stanford and Virginia were tied, three points apiece, and the Cardinal was just one win away from pulling off the upset. All eyes turned to court three, where the two seniors, Singh and Clayton, were battling to see which team would advance to the semifinals.

Clayton holds a special place in the heart of head coach John Whitlinger, having been the nation’s most prized recruit coming out of high school in 2006 and becoming a key building block in Whitlinger’s revival of the team.

“We’re going to miss Alex Clayton,” Whitlinger said. “He’s a special human being. He’s like a son to me. It hasn’t always been easy for Alex at Stanford, and his biggest legacy is where he’s leaving this program and the foundation that we’ve built.”

Clayton’s match against Singh was an intense and hard-fought endeavor from the very beginning. Singh complained to the chair umpire in the first couple games of the first set about the rowdiness of the crowd, prompting two warnings — the first directed at Stanford’s legion of supporters and the second to the UVA delegation of fans.

Clayton was able to convert a key break chance late in the first set to secure the 6-3 win. The second set was even more closely contested, with the match hanging in the balance at 4-4. Singh proved himself capable of dealing with Clayton’s tenacity and the crowd’s distraction, upping his game for the match’s pivotal stretch drive.

“After 4-4 in the second set, I kind of found my second gear,” he said.

He would need all of that second gear after winning the second set 6-4 and heading into the decisive third set with the entire fate of the two teams’ tournament hopes hanging in the balance of this one set.

The final set of the final match could have gone either way, with each player threatening to break the other’s serve early in the set, only to be foiled and exchange games. Eventually, Clayton was the first man to blink, losing his serve in the set’s eighth game, allowing Singh to grab a 5-3 lead and serve for the match.

When Singh’s forehand skidded past the outstretched racket of Clayton after a breathtaking exchange, the Cavalier lifted his arms in victory, and his jubilant teammates swarmed around him. Stanford had lost, but the team had put up an amazing fight.

After the match was over, Whitlinger put the loss in perspective.

“I told the group, ‘You can look yourselves in the mirror and be happy about yourselves.’ We almost pulled it off, and it would’ve been awesome, but it just came up a little short.”

For senior Alex Clayton, his final Stanford team match may have ended in defeat. But more important things remain.

“It’s hard being done,” Clayton said. “I’ve never teared up after a match before in my life, and this is the first time. This place has given me so much, and I can never be thankful enough. To get here, and push the No. 1 team to the very end, in the final match, at home, is the most incredible experience I’ve ever had in tennis.”

Stanford’s team season may be over, but Klahn and Thacher will each compete in the individual and doubles tournaments later this week. The singles competition begins on Wednesday, and doubles starts on Thursday.