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Feb. 18, 2004
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The No. 29 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team stayed unbeaten on the season, downing intrastate rival William & Mary 6-1 Wednesday at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg. The Cavaliers took all three doubles matches and five singles matches from the 41st ranked Tribe.
The Cavaliers opened the match strong by taking the doubles point for an early 1-0 advantage. Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) and Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) opened doubles play with an 8-3 win over Jeff Kader and Alex Fish at No. 3. Then the No. 24 ranked team of Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) and Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) clinched the point with an 8-5 win over Sean Kelleher and Geoff Russell at No. 1. Stephen Rozek (Chardon, Ohio) and Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-6 win over Steven Kane and Stephen Ward at No. 2.
In singles play, Rizza extended the Cavalier advantage to 2-0 with a straight set win over Kane at No. 3. Minutes later at No. 5, Meythaler downed Ward in straight sets to give Virginia a 3-0 lead. The Cavaliers clinched the match at No. 6, when Cohen completed a 6-2, 6-2 win over Fish. In a battle between two of the top players in collegiate tennis, No. 25 ranked Stewart topped No. 26 ranked Kader in three sets to make the score 5-0. At No. 4 Miklo defeated Russell in straight sets to make the score 6-0 before Kelleher upset No. 62 Rozek at No. 2 in three sets in the final match on the courts.
“We were really pleased with our focus tonight,” said assistant coach Tony Bresky. “We have been working a lot on doubles and our teams are really starting to click. We took that momentum into singles and kept moving in a positive direction. To beat another quality ranked team on the road shows the character of our team.”
The Cavaliers return home on Saturday as they host No. 75 Pacific. The time of the match at the Boar’s Head Sports Club is 5:00 p.m.
No. 29 Virginia 6, No. 41 William & Mary 1
Singles:
1. No. 25 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. No. 26 Jeff Kader (WM) 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-2
2. Sean Kelleher (WM) def. No. 62 Stephen Rozek (UVa) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. Steven Kane (WM) 6-4, 6-2
4. Marko Miklo (UVa) def. Geoff Russell (WM) 6-4, 7-6
5. Nick Meythaler (UVa) def. Stephen Ward (WM) 6-3, 6-3
6. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Alex Fish (WM) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles:
1. No. 24 Meythaler/Rizza (UVa) def. Kelleher/Russell (WM) 8-5
2. Rozek/Miklo (UVa) vs. Kane/Ward (WM)
3. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) def. Kader/Fish (WM) 8-3