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No. 38 UVa Men's Tennis Receives NCAA Bid
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May 4, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 38th-ranked University of Virginia men’s tennisteam has received a bid to the 64-team 2000 NCAA Division I Men’s TennisTeam Championship as announced Thursday afternoon (May 4). The Cavalierswill meet 19th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth in the first round of the teamtournament. In addition, Virginia third-years Brian Vahaly (Atlanta,Ga./The Lovett School) and Huntley Montgomery (Chapel Hill, N.C./ChapelHill) have been selected to participate in the NCAA IndividualChampionships May 24-28.
The NCAA Tennis Championships consist of team and individual championships.The team championship includes 64 teams and will be contested May 13-14 andMay 20-23. The individual championships consist of 64 singles players and32 doubles teams and will be contested May 24-28 at the University ofGeorgia.
Virginia stands at 16-9 on the season and will face Virginia Commonwealth(22-4) in the first round of the team championship on Saturday, May 13 inBlacksburg, Va. Earlier this season, VCU defeated the Cavaliers 5-1 inRichmond (April 6). Host and 67th-ranked Virginia Tech (15-13) will play13th-ranked Mississippi (18-5) in the other first round match inBlacksburg. The two winners will square off on May 15 for the right toadvance to the round of 16. The final four rounds of the team championshipwill be held at the University of Georgia May 20-23.
The Cavaliers’ bid to the national collegiate championships is their fourthin a row and ninth overall. UVa lost to South Alabama in the first roundin 1999.
In addition to representing Virginia at the team championship, Vahaly andMontgomery will compete in the NCAA individual championships. Vahaly andMontgomery are one of 32 doubles teams selected, while Vahaly is one of 64players chosen to compete in the singles championship.
It is the third consecutive year that Vahlay has been invited to the NCAAsingles championship. Last year, he won his first round match beforefalling in the second round. Vahaly is currently ranked fourth in thenation and was rated as high as third this season. He was recentlyselected as the 2000 ACC Men’s Tennis Player of the Year and was namedAll-ACC for the third consecutive year. Vahaly was also selected as a 2000ACC Flight Champion at #1 singles. Vahaly has posted a 32-4 singles recordthis year (22-1 at #1 singles) with the 32 singles victories establishing aVirginia school record. In October, he became not only the first UVaplayer, but the first ACC player, to advance to the finals of theprestigious Reebok/Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American SinglesChampionship. Last season, Vahaly also became the first Virginia men’stennis player to earn All-America honors.
Vahlay and Montgomery will be making their second consecutive appearance inthe NCAA doubles championship. The duo lost their first round match in theNCAA’s in 1999. In doubles play this season, Vahaly and Montgomery areranked 26th in the nation and were ranked as high as sixth in the 1999 fallpreseason rankings. The duo has posted an 18-7 overall record, including a6-2 mark in the ACC.