Men's Tennis Team Suffers First ACC Defeat

Story Links

March 16, 1999

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Playing without its top player, the University of Virginia men’s tennis team suffered a tough 4-3 defeat to Florida State Monday afternoon. Brian Vahaly, ranked 21st nationally in singles, has been sidelined with the flu during the early part of the Cavaliers’ spring break trip. The loss is Virginia’s second in a row to begin the extended spring break trip as the Cavaliers fall to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Florida State improved to 9-5 overall and 2-2 in the ACC.

The match came down to a third-set tiebreaker at #2 singles. Yvo Niks clinched the win for the homestanding Seminoles with a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker against John Winter.

Winter won the first set 6-4, but Niks pulled even with a 6-3 win in the second. Midway through the third set, it became apparent to Winter and Niks their match would be the decisive one. Down 6-5, Niks served to send the match to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Winter jumped to an early 2-0 lead, but a double fault at 2-2 gave Niks momentum. Winter won only once with his powerful serves in the tiebreaker as Niks broke him five times. Winter was equally as impressive as Niks, however, breaking Niks four times. Niks went on to win the tiebreaker 7-5 to give the Seminoles the win.

The Cavaliers held a 3-2 lead, but Jeff Scarella pulled out a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win over Kent Koch at #6 to knot the score at three and set the stage for the Niks/Winter match-up.

Hyon Yoo won his fourth match in a row with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Davidson Kozlowski at #3. Brian Hunter gained his first win at #5 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Florida State’s Noah Schnell.

#55 Florida State 4, #31 Virginia 3

Singles
1–Huntley Montgomery (V) def. Ty Braswell 7-5, 6-1
2–Yvo Niks (FS) def. John Winter 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
3–Hyon Yoo (V) def. Davidson Kozlowski 6-0, 6-3
4–Chad Mooney (FS) def. Tommy Croker 6-3, 7-5
5–Brian Hunter (V) def. Noah Schnell 6-4, 7-5
6–Jeff Scarella (FS) def. Kent Koch 6-1, 5-7, 6-4

Doubles
1–Braswell/Kozlowski (FS) def. Montgomery/Chris Chatham 8-6
2–Croker/Winter (V) def. Scarella/Schnell 8-5
3–Mooney/Niks (FS) def. Hunter/Yoo 8-5