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Virginia's Vahaly Earns Second Seed In NCAA Singles Championship
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May 23, 2000
ATHENS, Ga. – University of Virginia rising fourth-year Brian Vahaly(Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) has been seeded second in the 64-playerNCAA Singles Championship which begins Wednesday, May 24 at the Dan MagillTennis Complex at the University of Georgia. It is the highest NCAAChampionship seeding ever for a Virginia tennis player. In addition tocompeting in the singles bracket, Vahaly will team with rising fourth-yearHuntley Montgomery (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) in the 32-team NCAADoubles Championship. The NCAA Individual Championships will be contestedMay 24-28.
Vahaly, who was fourth in the May 3 WingspanBank.com rankings, opens thesingles tournament by playing Tom Hand of LSU at 11:00 a.m. Wednesdaymorning. The winner of that first round match will play the winner of theMatt Wright (Michigan) – Ramsey Smith (Duke) match in the second round onThursday, May 25.
Vahaly, the 2000 ACC Player of the Year, has never played Hand in acollegiate match. In 1999-2000, Vahaly is 13-4 against players whoreceived a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship. In two previous NCAAsingles tournaments, Vahaly has posted a 1-2 record. Last year, he won hisfirst round match before falling in the second round. He also became UVa’sfirst men’s tennis All-American in 1999.
In the NCAA Doubles Championship, Vahaly and Montgomery will play thenumber two seed, Stanford’s Geoff Abrams and Alex Kim, in the first round.Vahaly and Montgomery are rated 26th in the WingspanBank.com rankings. Thematch will be played on Thursday, May 25. The time of the match has notbeen determined. In last year’s NCAA doubles tournament, Vahaly andMontgomery lost to UCLA’s Cook and Kramer 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
Vahaly and Montgomery were both recently named All-ACC, it marked the thirdconsecutive year Vahaly has garnered the award and the second time forMontgomery. Vahaly has posted a 32-4 singles record this year, including a23-1 mark in dual matches. He was 8-0 in ACC play as well. The 32 singlesvictories establish a new Virginia school record. In doubles play, thetandem has registered an 18-8 record and was 6-2 in ACC matches this season.