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May 12, 2000

Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center, Blacksburg, Va.
May 13-14, 2000

The NCAA Championships: Virginia, ranked 37th in the latestWingspanBank.com Poll, enters the 2000 NCAA Team Championships with a 16-9overall record. The Cavaliers were also 5-3 in the Atlantic CoastConference. UVa’s first round opponent, Virginia Commonwealth is ranked19th in the nation and stands at 22-4. Host Virginia Tech and Mississippiare the other two teams playing in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech is 15-13 onthe season and is 69th in the nation. Mississippi finished the regularseason with an 18-5 record and is ranked 13th.

The first round matches take place on Saturday, May 13 at theBurrows-Burleson Tennis Center. UVa’s match vs. VCU begins at 10:00 a.m.with the Virginia Tech – Mississippi match beginning at 2:00 p.m. The twowinners meet on Sunday, May 14 at 12 noon for the right to advance to theround of 16 at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. on Saturday, May 20.

Series Records: The Cavaliers trail VCU in the all-time series 10-9, buthold a 42-5 advantage over Virginia Tech. Virginia has never playedMississippi in the sport of men’s tennis. Had UVa won its first round NCAAmatch in 1999, the Cavaliers would have played Mississippi at thePalmer/Salloum Tennis Center on Mississippi’s campus in Oxford, Miss., inthe second round. Earlier this season, the Hokies upset UVa 4-3 at theBurrows-Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg on April 11.

UVa vs. 2000 NCAA Teams: Virginia is 4-8 this season against teams invitedto the NCAAs. UVa’s wins have come over Columbia, Middle Tennessee State,North Carolina and Ohio State. The Cavaliers have fallen to Duke twice,Arkansas-Little Rock, Clemson, Louisiana-Lafayette, Notre Dame, VirginiaCommonwealth and Virginia Tech.

Virginia in the NCAAs: The Cavaliers are making their fourth consecutivetrip to the NCAA Team Championship and ninth overall. In 1999 and 1997,Virginia lost in the first round to South Carolina (4-1) and South Alabama(4-2), respectively. In 1998, UVa advanced to the third round withvictories over Florida State (4-1) and Virginia Commonwealth (4-2), beforefalling to South Carolina (4-2) in the regional final.

The Cavaliers first five NCAA appearances came in the late 60’s andearly 70’s. Virginia was invited to the NCAA’s in 1968, 1969 and 1970,then again in 1972 and 1973.

1968 – T35th of 110 teams
1969 – T25th of 35 teams
1970 – T28th of 41 teams
1972 – T29th of 46 teams
1973 – T26th of 70 teams

Cavaliers to Face Familiar Foe in First Round: UVa hasdrawn a very familiar opponent in Virignia Commonwealth for the first roundof the NCAAs. The two teams met earlier this season with the Rams winning5-1 in Richmond on April 6. With that victory, VCU took a 10-9 lead in theall-time series. The Rams have won the last two meetings with the lastVirginia victory coming in the NCAA Region II Tournament in the 1998season.

In the April 6 match, the Rams won two of the three doubles matchesto earn the doubles point. UVa third-year Brian Vahaly won his #1 singlesmatch for the Cavaliers’ lone point. VCU swept the #2 through #5 singlesmatches (the #6 match was not completed) to earn the 5-1 victory. The matchresults are below.

Singles
1. No. 4 Brian Vahaly (V) def. No. 12 Frank Moser (VC), 7-6, 6-3
2. No. 1 Daniel Andersson (VC) def. No. 49 Huntley Montgomery (V), 6-2, 6-1
3. Fernando Sanchez (VC) def. John Winter (V), 6-2, 6-2
4. No. 47 Jose Sanchez (VC) def. Tommy Croker (V), 6-2, 6-3
5. Mats Norin (VC) def. Brian Hunter (V), 6-4, 6-3
6. Mattias Hoglund (VC) vs. Michael Duquette (V), match not completed

Doubles
1. No. 13 Andersson/Moser (VC) def. No. 16 Vahaly/Montgomery (V), 8-6
2. Winter/Croker (V) def. Norin/Hoglund (VC), 8-3
3. F. Sanchez/J. Sanchez (VC) def. Duquette/Hunter (V), 9-8

The 1999-2000 Season: Virginia currently stands at 16-9 overall and 5-3 inthe ACC. The Cavaliers were the fourth seed in the ACC Championship forthe second year in a row. UVa defeated Florida State 4-1 in thequarterfinals April 21, but fell to top-seeded Duke 6-1 in the semifinalson April 22. The ACC Tournament took place at the Racquet Club of theSouth in Norcross, Ga.

The Cavaliers started the season by winning their first seven dualmatches and nine of 10. UVa was ranked 20th in the nation for threeconsecutive weeks (Feb. 23, Mar. 1 and Mar. 8).

Virginia’s first loss of the season came against 66th-rankedArkansas-Little Rock in the first round of the East Coast Great 8 Shootoutin Norfolk, Va. on March 11. UVa lost to UALR 3-2.

The Cavaliers have played 16 matches against ranked opponents(opponent ranked at the time of the match) and are 9-7 in those matches.UVa is 7-2 against unranked opponents with the two losses coming againstACC rival Georgia Tech (5-2, on April 1) and NCAA participant Virginia Tech(4-3, on April 11).

Head Coach Dick Stockton: Dick Stockton is in his second season at the helmof the Virginia men’s tennis program. He enters the NCAA Championship witha 30-19 coaching record. No stranger to high level tennis, Stockton hasbrought more than two decades of professional tennis playing experience toCharlottesville. One of the top singles and doubles players in the worldduring his career, Stockton has reached the semifinals of Wimbledon and theFrench Open and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. He is a five-timemember of the U.S. Davis Cup team, including the championship squad in1979. Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, he continued to earn many prestigioushonors, including winning titles at the U.S. Open 45-and-over doubleschampionship in 1999 and 1996, and the Wimbledon 45-and-over doubles titlein 1997.

Stockton Brings NCAA Championship Experience to UVa: Second-year head coachDick Stockton knows about the pressure of competing in the NCAAChampionships. Among his many accomplishments in a very successful playingcareer, Stockton’s tennis resume features an NCAA title. He captured theNCAA singles championship in 1972 while leading Trinity (Texas) to the teamchampionship. Stockton downed his teammate and roommate Brian Gottfried4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to win the singles crown. He also teamed with BobMcKinley in doubles and almost pulled off a double triumph, but they wereeliminated in the semifinals by the eventual champions, Stanford’s RoscoeTanner and Alex Mayer.

5-3 Three of the Last Four Years: Virginia has finished 5-3 in theAtlantic Coast Conference three of the past four years (1997, 1998 and2000). The 5-3 records in those three seasons are UVa’s best since the1984 Cavalier squad compiled a 5-2 league mark.

Cavaliers in the ITA Rankings: Virginia is ranked 37th in the May 10WingspanBank.com Rankings. UVa has been as high as 20th in the rankings(Feb. 23, Mar. 1 and Mar. 8) this year. Here is a look at Virginia’s team week-by-week rankings in theWingspanBank.com Poll:

Fall - 23rd	Mar. 1 - 20th	Apr. 5 - 46thFeb. 2 - 21st	Mar. 8 - 20th 	Apr. 12 - 43rdFeb. 9 - 22nd	Mar. 15 - 26th	Apr. 19 - 36thFeb. 16 - 21st	Mar. 22 - 38th	Apr. 26 - 37thFeb. 23 - 20th	Mar. 29 - 36th	May 3 - 38th				May 10 - 37th

PUVa’s individual singles and doubles rankings follow:

SinglesBrian Vahaly'99 Preseason - 9th	Mar. 1 - 4th	Apr. 12 - 5thFinal Fall - 3rd	Mar. 15 - 5th	Apr. 26 - 3rdFeb. 16 - 4th		Mar. 29 - 4th	May 3 - 4th

Huntely MontgomeryPreseason – 76th Mar. 1 – 50th Apr. 12 – 51stFinal Fall – 41st Mar. 15 – 39th Apr. 26 – 56thFeb. 16 – 54th Mar. 29 – 49th May 3 – 66th

DoublesVahaly/Montogmery’99 Preseason – 6th Mar. 1 – 11th Apr. 12 – 23rdFinal Fall – 23rd Mar. 15 – 14th Apr. 26 – 23rdFeb. 16 – 24th Mar. 29 – 16th May 3 – 26th

Tommy Croker/John Winter’99 Preseason – T50th Feb. 16 – 23rd Mar. 15 – 46thFinal Fall – 9th Mar. 1 – 37th

Vahaly Selected ACC Player of the Year, Montgomery Earns All-ACC Honors:Third-year Brian Vahaly has been selected as the 2000 ACC Men’s TennisPlayer of the Year, while third-year Huntley Montgomery has earned All-ACChonors.

Vahaly is the first Virginia player to be named the ACC’s Player ofthe Year. Vahaly was also named All-ACC in 2000, marking the first time aUVa player has earned All-conference honors three times.

Montgomery was selected All-ACC for the second time in his careeras he also garnered the honor as a freshman in 1998.

Four UVa Players Named ACC Flight Champions: Virginia had four playersnamed 2000 ACC Flight Champions for their regular season play. In singlesplay, third-years Brian Vahaly and Brian Hunter earned the honor at #1 and#5 singles, respectively. Fourth-year John Winter and third-year TommyCroker were selected as ACC Flight Champions at #2 doubles for the secondconsecutive year. Two players in each of the six singles flights and twotandems in each of the three doubles flights were named ACC FlightChampions.

At #1 singles, UNC’s Tripp Phillips joined Vahaly as the flightchampion. Hunter and North Carolina’s Trystan Meniane were the ACC’s #5singles champions. It marked the third consecutive year that UVa has had a#5 singles champion. Tommy Croker and John Winter earned the honor in 1999and 1998, respectively.

Winter and Croker repeat as the #2 doubles flight champions, and itis the third straight year that a UVa duo has been named the #2 doubleschampion. Vahaly and Montgomery earned the honor in 1998. In 2000, Winterand Croker shared the title with Duke’s Andres Pedroso and Ted Rueger afterearning the award in 1999.

Vahaly Sets Singles Victory Record: Brian Vahaly set UVa’s season recordfor singles victories when he won his 30th singles match (against just fourlosses) of the season on April 16 vs. Duke’s Doug Root. He is currently32-4 in singles play this season. Vahaly shared the previous record of 29singles wins with Justin Smith. Vahaly, who became UVa’s firstAll-American in 1999, was 29-9 last year, while Smith was 29-13 in the1994-95 season.

Vahaly, currently ranked fourth nationally, advanced to the finalsof the Reebok/ITA All-American Singles Championship in October. He alsoadvanced to the third round of the T. Rowe Price National Clay Courts inSeptember. At the 2000 Rolex National Intercollegiate Indoor Championshipsin February, Vahaly won a pair of matches, but lost in the quarterfinals.

12 Consecutive Wins for Vahaly: Brian Vahaly is currently on a 12-matchsingles winning streak and he has also won 22 of his last 23 singlesmatches. Vahaly, who is 32-4 on the season, has only lost one set duringhis 12-match winning streak. In addition, he has lost just 11 of the 77singles sets he has played this year. Vahaly’s totals do not include a 1-0(8) loss in a third-set tie-breaker to Eduardo Gordilho ofLouisiana-Lafayette (Vahaly’s only loss in his last 23 matches).

Vahaly vs. Andersson: The #1 singles match in the first round features twoof the top players in the nation. VCU’s Daniel Andersson is ranked secondin the country, while Virginia’s Brian Vahaly is fourth. Vahaly is 3-0against Anderson during his collegiate career. The two players have notmet this season. In 1998-99, Vahaly defeated Andersson 6-4, 6-7(5), 3-0,ret., and 6-3, 6-3. Vahaly also won the initial collegiate matchup 3-6,7-6(3), 7-5 during the NCAAs in the 1997-98 season.

Doubles Play Gets Early Lead: Virginia has received excellent doubles playall season long. The Cavaliers have been able to win the doubles point in17 of 25 dual matches this season (in one match there was no doublesplayed). UVa went on to win 14 of the 17 matches when it captured thedoubles point. On the contrary, when the Cavaliers fail to win the doublespoint, UVa is just 1-6 with the lone win coming over Ohio State (4-2, March5).

National Tournaments: In addition to Vahaly playing in the All-Americanand Clay Court and Rolex tournaments, three other UVa players have madeappearances in high-profile tournaments this year. Huntley Montgomeryplayed in the singles of the Clay Courts and then teamed with Vahaly toadvance to the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament. Montgomery alsoadvanced to the finals of the backdraw of the All-American and teamed withVahaly to earn a berth in the quarterfinals of the doubles tourney.

At the ITA Regionals in November, fourth-year John Winter andthird-year Tommy Croker won the tournament to earn an automatic bid to the16-team Rolex National Indoors. At the Rolex Nationals, Winter and Crokerfell to top-seeded Geoff Abrams and Alex Kim of Stanford 6-3, 7-5 in thefirst round.

2000 Individual NCAAs: Third-years Brian Vahaly and Huntley Montgomeryhave been extended invitations to the NCAA Individual Championships May24-28 at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. Vahaly will compete inboth the singles and doubles championships, while Montgomery will pair withVahalay in the 32-team doubles competition.

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