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Sept. 26, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia men’s tennis team had a strong showing Friday in the first day of the Virginia Invitational at the Snyder Tennis Center. Highlighting the day was three Cavaliers that reached the quarterfinals of Flight A.
In singles flight A, three Cavaliers reached Saturday’s quarterfinal round with a pair of wins on Friday. Second year Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.), a No. 5-8 seed, cruised past Chris Chiou of Harvard in straight sets in the first round before winning a three-set marathon 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 over Brett Ross of Wake Forest in round two. First-year Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) won a pair of matches in straight sets, defeating Colin Milos of Old Dominion in round one and upsetting No. 5-8 seed Sean Kelleher of William & Mary in round two. Second-year Stephen Rozek (Chadron, Ohio) also advanced with two three sets wins, topping Conor Taylor of NC State and upsetting No. 5-8 seed Zoltan Csanadi of Old Dominion.
In doubles play, the Cavaliers had all five teams advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. The teams of Chris Gonyer (Louisville, Ky.) and Stephen Nolen (Aurora, Colo.), Rizza and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) advanced in Flight A. The teams of Dillon Walker (Dallas, Texas) and Mark Montandon (Newport News, Va.), Burak Ahmed (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Mike Downing (Virginia Beach) and Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) and Rozek advanced in Flight B.
“Today was a great day of tennis and a tremendous opportunity for our players to get some matches against some top competition,” stated Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “We got to see our players in competitive situations and I was pleased with our play today.”
The tournament resumes Saturday at 8:00 am and runs through Sunday afternoon.
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