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March 7, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 23 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team opened their outdoor dual match season Sunday by defeating No. 17 Texas 5-2 at the Snyder Tennis Center. The win was the Cavaliers’ second victory over a top-20 opponent this season as they improved their overall record to 11-1 on the season.

The Cavaliers opened the match by rallying to take the doubles point for a 1-0 lead. After Texas’ Jose Zarhi and Antonio Ruiz upset No. 20 ranked Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) at No. 1 doubles, the Cavaliers came back to win the other two matches. At No. 2, Stephen Rozek (Chardon, Ohio) and Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) rallied from a 5-0 deficit to defeat Jimmy Haney and Ryan Haymond 9-7. Then with the No. 3 match left to decide the point, Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) and Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) rallied from down a break to force a tiebreaker in their match against Hubert Chodkiewicz and Joe Morris. Then in the breaker, the Cavalier duo fought off one match-point against en route to winning the breaker 9-7 to clinch the match.

In singles play, Texas quickly tied the dual match with Haymond’s win at No. 5. Then the Cavaliers posted a pair of straight set wins over ranked opponents to retake the lead 3-1. Rizza upset No. 93 Pete Stroer at No. 3, 6-4, 6-0 and No. 18 ranked Stewart downed No. 51 Ruiz 6-4, 6-4. Then after the Longhorns inched closer when Jimmy Haney posted a three set win at No. 4 to make the score 3-2, Cohen clinched the dual match at No. 6. He rallied from losing the first set to win a second set tiebreaker at love and win the third set 6-1. In the final match on the courts, No. 98 ranked Rozek topped Zarhi in three sets at No. 2.

“Beating a quality team like Texas is a good win for our program,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “Winning the doubles point was huge and it gave us a lot of momentum into the singles. I was proud of how some of our guys overcame adversity and stepped up today.”

The Cavaliers return to ACC play on Tuesday, March 9 as they host No. 42 Florida State. Time of the match is 1:00 p.m.

No. 23 Virginia 5, No. 17 Texas 2

Singles:
1. No. 18 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. No. 51 Antonio Ruiz (UT) 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 98 Stephen Rozek (UVa) def. Jose Zarhi (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. No. 93 Pete Stroer (UT) 6-4, 6-0
4. Jimmy Haney (UT) def. Marko Miklo (UVa) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
5. Ryan Haymond (UT) def. Nick Meythaler (UVa) 6-2, 6-2
6. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Hubert Chodkiewicz (UT) 1-6, 7-6, 6-1

Doubles:
1. Ruiz/Zarhi (UT) def. No. 20 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 8-4
2. Miklo/Rozek (UVa) def. Haney/Haymond (UT) 9-7
3. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) def. Chodkiewicz/Morris (UT) 9-8

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