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March 15, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The No. 54 Virginia men’s tennis team opened their home outdoor season at the Snyder Tennis Center with a pair of wins Saturday, upsetting No. 29 Georgia Tech 5-2 in their ACC opener, and UMBC 6-1 in the nightcap. The wins improve the Cavaliers to 14-2 on the year, 1-0 in the conference.
Against the Yellow Jackets, UVa fell behind early by dropping the doubles point. However, the Cavaliers would rally in singles, led by first years Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) and Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) wins over higher ranked foes at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Michael Duquette (Virginia Beach, Va.), Chris Gonyer (Louisville, Ky.) and Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) posted wins at the No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6 positions.
In the second match, Virginia took command of the match by winning five of the six singles matches, which were played first. Duquette and Rizza picked up their second singles wins of the day, while Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.), Travis Triplett (Louisville, Ky.) and Dillon Walker (Dallas, Texas) also won against the Retrievers. The Cavaliers closed out the match by sweeping the doubles.
“Today was a great way to start the conference season,” stated Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “I was extremely pleased with how we rebounded against Georgia Tech after losing the doubles point. Then I was happy that we kept our focus and continued to play strong against UMBC.”
Virginia hits the road next weekend for conference road matches at Wake Forest and NC State.
No. 54 Virginia 5, No. 29 Georgia Tech 2
Singles:1. No. 52 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. No. 39 Roger Anderson (GT) 6-1, 7-62. Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. No. 69 Scott Schnugg (GT) 6-1, 3-6, 6-33. Michael Duquette (UVa) def. Jason Pieters (GT) 7-6, 4-6, 10-84. Chris Gonyer (UVa) def. Joao Menano (GT) 7-5, 6-35. West Nott (GT) def. Stephen Rozek (UVa) 6-2, 7-66. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Fabio Campos (GT) 7-5, 7-5
Doubles:1. Anderson/Schnugg (GT) def. No. 33 Duquette/Stewart (UVa) 9-72. Gonyer/Nolen (UVa) def. Pieters/Menano (GT) 8-53. Nott/McLeod (GT) def. Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 8-4
No. 54 Virginia 6, UMBC 1
Singles:1. Josef Novotny (UMBC) def. Stephen Nolen (UVa) 6-7, 7-5, 10-82. Michael Duquette (UVa) def. Mikhail Kouznetsov (UMBC) 6-1, 6-23. Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. Luis Baraldi (UMBC) 6-2, 6-24. Nick Meythaler (UVa) def. James Tyler (UMBC) 6-3, 6-25. Travis Triplett (UVa) def. Djan Gusamo (UMBC) 6-0, 6-46. Dillon Walker (UVa) def. Tom Joyce (UMBC) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles:1. Cohen/Rizza (UVa) def. Tyler/Kouznetsov (UMBC) 8-12. Triplett/Walker (UVa) def. Gusamo/Joyce (UMBC) 8-23. Downing/Montandon (UVa) def. Baraldi/Hardja (UMBC) 8-3