Vahaly Posts Comeback Win In First Round Of NCAA Singles Championship

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May 24, 2000

ATHENS, Ga. – University of Virginia rising fourth-year tennis player Brian Vahaly (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) won the second and third sets of his first round NCAA Singles Championship match for a come-from-behind victory over LSU’s Tom Hand Wednesday afternoon, May 24, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia. Vahaly, the second seed in the tournament, registered a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 win over Hand. He will play Ramsey Smith of Duke in the second round on Thursday.

Vahaly, fourth in the WingspanBank.com rankings, lost the first set 6-3 to 20th-ranked Hand. He trailed 3-2 in the second set, but eventually pulled out a 7-6 tie-break victory to stave off elimination and even the match at one set apiece. Vahaly, the 2000 ACC Player of the Year, clinched the match with a 6-2 triumph in the third and deciding set. The victory improved Vahaly’s singles record to 33-4 on the year and was also his 13th consecutive win.

Ramsey, ranked 34th, advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Michigan’s Matt Wright. The time of Thursday’s singles match between Vahaly and Smith has not been determined.

In addition, Vahaly will team with rising fourth-year Huntley Montgomery (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) in the 32-team NCAA Doubles Championship. The 26th-ranked tandem will play the number two seed, Stanford’s Geoff Abrams and Alex Kim, in the first round on Thursday. The time of the match has not been determined.