Rylan Rizza Named ACC Men's Tennis Performer of the Week

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April 12, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Virginia men’s tennis player Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) was named ACC Men’s Tennis Performer of the Week conference officials announced Monday. Rizza led Virginia to three victories on the week, including clinching the Cavaliers’ upset of No. 5 Duke Sunday.

Rizza went 2-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles for the week. On Sunday, he and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) upset the No. 5 ranked doubles team of Ludovic Walter and Jason Zimmerman of Duke 8-3. Then, with the dual match tied at 3-3, the second-year completed an upset of Walter, ranked No. 16 nationally in singles, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 to clinch Virginia’s first ever win over a top-5 opponent. The win also gave Virginia a share of its first ever ACC regular season title.

Earlier in the week, Rizza moved up to No. 1 singles against Maryland and dropped just three games in defeating Troy Demers 6-2, 6-1. In doubles, Rizza and Meythaler also defeated Ian Bliss and Scott Peters of Maryland and Izak van der Merwe and Nate Grover of Old Dominion.

The honor is the first for a Cavalier this season and the second of Rizza’s career, as he was honored once last season.

The Cavaliers (19-3, 7-1 ACC) return to action this weekend as the No. 2 seed for the ACC Tournament at the Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C. Virginia will play No. 7 seed Florida State at 3:00 p.m. Friday in quarterfinal action.