Top-Seeded UVa Men's Doubles Team Advances to Quarterfinals at NCAA Championships

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May 26, 2001

ATHENS, Ga. – University of Virginia men’s tennis players Brian Vahaly (Atlanta, Ga./The Lovett School) and Huntley Montgomery (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) erased memories of a first-round loss to a Stanford doubles team at last year’s NCAA Championships by dispatching a Cardinal team made up of K.J. Hippensteel and Alex Kim, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, at the 2001 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. Saturday (May 26).

Vahaly and Montgomery lost to Kim and his partner Geoff Abrams in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championships. Saturday’s victory in the second round propelled the UVa team to its first ever appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals and its third appearance in the quarterfinals of a 2001 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Grand Slam Event this season. The duo advanced to the finals at the T. Rowe Price National Clay Court Championships and at the ITA All-American last fall.

The win also means that Vahaly will play at least two matches on Sunday (May 27). He is scheduled to take on Pepperdine’s Al Garland in the semifinals of the singles draw on Sunday and could play up to two doubles matches as well.

Montgomery and Vahaly are now 33-7 on the season. They will take on a familiar doubles opponent in Southern California’s Ryan Moore and Nick Rainey. The Trojans team defeated Vahaly and Montgomery, 8-5, in a first round NCAA Team Championships match on May 12.

SINGLES
First Round: Brian Vahaly (UVa) def. Nathan Overholser (Florida), 6-2, 6-1.Second Round: Brian Vahaly (UVa) def. Jean Simon (Texas), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Third Round: Brian Vahaly (UVa) def. Matt Hanlin (Washington), 6-1, 6-1.Quarterfinals: Brian Vahaly (UVa) def. Phil King (Duke), 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.

DOUBLES First Round: Montgomery/Vahaly (UVa) def. Caradima/Madden (Texas A&M), 6-4, 6-4.
Second Round: Montgomery/Vahaly (UVa) def. Hippensteel/Kim (Stanford), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.