Tennis Squads Open Spring Season

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January 25, 1999

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia men’s and women’s tennis teams opened their spring seasons this weekend at the ACC Indoor Tennis Championships.

Brian Vahaly and John Winter advanced to the quarterfinals to highlight the men’s side, played at Wake Forest’s Indoor Tennis Center.

Vahaly, the tournament’s top seed, won his first two matches in straight sets before falling to Florida State’s David Kozlowski 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Winter, the tournament’s seventh seed, gained a pair of wins over players North Carolina, but was eliminated by Andres Pedroso of Duke 6-3, 6-4.

N.C. State’s Roberto Bracone claimed the singles championship with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Pedro Escudero of Duke.

In doubles the Cavaliers were led by the tandem of Tommy Croker and Huntley Montgomery. They were eliminated in the quarterfinals 8-5 by the Duke squad of Pedroso and Marko Cerenko.

Escudero bounced back to team with Doug Root in an 8-4 win over Myles Clouston and Raul Munoz of Wake Forest in the championship match of the doubles bracket.

Paige Boiko led the way for the Cavalier women’s team at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina. She advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to top-seed Mariel Verban of Wake Forest 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. Boiko pulled off the first upset of the tournament with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Duke’s Kathy Sell, the nation’s 55th-ranked player, in the second round.

Webb bested Verban 6-4, 6-3 for the singles title.

Stacy Gingold was the only other Cavalier to advance past the second round. She lost to Duke’s Vanessa Webb, the eventual champion, 6-1, 6-0 in the third round.

The duo of Leslie Cook and Christie Schweer was Virginia’s leading doubles combination. They lost a quarterfinal match to Duke’s Erico Biro and Kristin Sanderson 8-4. Duke’s top-seeded squad of Webb and Karen Goldstein beat teammates Sell and Megan Miller 9-8 for the championship.