Cavalier All-Americans Brian Vahaly & Huntley Montgomery

Story Links

Oct. 1, 2002

University of Virginia men’s tennis started the 21st Century with a loud bang due to the heroics of Huntley Montgomery and Brian Vahaly, who played their final matches for the Cavaliers at the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Virginia’s first tennis All-Americans established an impressive legacy of success for others to follow in the years ahead.

Vahaly, now one of the fastest-rising stars on the professional tennis circuit, completed an outstanding collegiate career at UVa in 2001, earning All-America honors three times, advancing to the finals of the 2001 NCAA Singles Championship, and compiling an overall singles record of 40-6 during the 2000-2001 season. His 40 singles victories are a UVa single-season record.

Vahaly was the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and the ACC flight champion at No. 1 singles his last two years at Virginia, and he earned All-ACC honors four times. He lost just three ACC singles matches during his four years at UVa and only one his final three seasons. He earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 1998 and was the first UVa player since 1981 to be invited to the NCAA Singles Championships. In his second year, Vahaly became Virginia’s first tennis All-American. He achieved the highest ranking ever for a UVa player when he was ranked second nationally in the fall of 1998.

Vahaly teamed with Montgomery to form an outstanding doubles team. As seniors, they were the top-ranked Division I doubles team in the nation in the final rankings, advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship and compiled an overall record of 34-8.

The native of Atlanta, Ga., was also named the University of Virginia’s Top Male Athlete of all sports as a senior in the spring of 2001. He finished his four-year collegiate career with overall records of 125-30 in singles and 97-40 in doubles. Brian also earned Academic All-American award honors while majoring in both finance and business management at the McIntire School of Commerce.

In his first 12 months on tour, Vahaly has won eight professional tournaments and climbed in the ATP rankings from No. 1532 to 110, as of August 2002, making him the fastest-rising player in the top 200 and also the highest-ranked college graduate in the world. In 2002, he competed in two Grand Slam events, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and has faced top-25 players Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and James Blake.

“Wimbledon is an unbelievable achievement for Brian,” says UVa head coach Brian Boland. “He was the only collegiate player from last year who played Wimbledon’s main draw this year. It’s a great accomplishment for him and tremendous for the University of Virginia tennis program.”

Currently, Vahaly’s best wins are over French Open Champion Michael Chang and U.S. Davis Cup player Chris Woodruff.

Montgomery earned All-America honors as a senior in 2001. He compiled an overall singles record of 27-8, won the ACC flight championship at No. 2 singles and earned All-ACC honors for the third time in four years. He compiled a record of 7-1 in ACC competition during the 2001 regular season and his 27 singles victories tied his single-season collegiate high.

Montgomery, who came to Virginia from Chapel Hill, N.C., compiled a 27-14 record as a freshman and finished the season playing No. 2 singles for the Cavaliers. He teamed with Vahaly to win the ACC Championship at No. 2 doubles and compile an 8-0 record in conference matches (7-0 No. 2, 1-0 No. 1). He had an overall record of 15-13 in singles competition as a sophomore and participated in the NCAA Doubles Championship with Vahaly.

Montgomery won the singles championship at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Summer Championships in 1999. In his third year at Virginia, he compiled an overall record of 21-13 while playing No. 2 singles, earned All-ACC honors for the second time and again advanced to the NCAA Doubles Championships with Vahaly. He finished his Virginia career with an overall singles record of 90-48 and an overall doubles record of 102-43.

Montgomery has also been busy on the professional circuit since graduating from Virginia. He has competed in numerous Futures and Challenger events, playing against standouts such as Wayne Black and Paul Goldstein. He won four doubles events in 2002 through August, and has moved into the top 500 in singles and the top 200 in doubles.

With a legacy of impressive achievements, it’s easy to understand why Brian Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery will be remembered as two of the finest players in UVa tennis history.