Cavalier Men's Tennis Falls to TCU

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April 4, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 12 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team suffered its second defeat of the weekend to a top-10 team, falling to No. 14 TCU 4-2 Sunday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The loss drops the Cavaliers’ record to 16-3 on the season.

The Horned Frogs (14-4) took an early lead by rallying to win doubles point. After TCU had won at No. 2, Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) and Stephen Rozek (Chardon, Ohio) posted a win for the Cavaliers at No. 3. With the doubles point riding on the match at No. 1, the TCU team of Fabrizio Sestini and Rafael Abreu rallied from 6-2 down to defeat Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) and Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and clinch the point.

The Horned Frogs, carried their doubles momentum into singles, winning the first set in five of the six matches. After Jacopo Tezza won at No. 4 to extend TCU’s lead to 2-0, Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) posted a straight set win at No. 6 for Virginia to cut the lead in half. Virginia rallied in the other four matches, winning the second set to force a third. Abreu downed Meythaler in the third set at No. 5 to bring the score to 3-1. Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.), ranked No. 21 in singles, then completed a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 comeback victory at No. 1 over No. 41 ranked Alex Menichini. However, Hector Almada pulled out the three set win over Rizza at No. 3 to clinch the match for TCU.

“This weekend we didn’t get positive results on the scoreboard but hopefully these matches can be a positive,” said head coach Brian Boland. “Every close match like this makes a team better and I am proud of our fight. After a tough loss yesterday, we lost the doubles point and got down in five singles matches. Yet we didn’t quit and the match came down to the wire.”

The Cavaliers return to ACC play on Wednesday as they visit Maryland.

No. 14 TCU 4, No. 12 Virginia 2

Singles:
1. No. 21 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. No. 41 Alex Menchini (TCU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. Marko Miklo (UVa) vs. Fabrizio Sestini (TCU) 1-6, 7-5, 3-3 susp.
3. Hector Almada (TCU) def. Rylan Rizza (UVa) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
4. Jacopo Tezza (TCU) def. Stephen Rozek (UVa) 6-3, 6-0
5. Rafael Abreu (TCU) def. Nick Meythaler (UVa) 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
6. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Jacob Martin (UVa) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:
1. No. 19 Sestini/Abreu (TCU) def. No. 14 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 9-7
2. Almada/Tezza (TCU) def. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) 8-1
3. Rozek/Miklo (UVa) def. Martin/Gallman (TCU) 8-6