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Cavalier Men's Tennis Opens National Indoors with 4-1 Win Over #7 Stanford
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Feb. 17, 2005
CHICAGO – The No. 9 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team made an impressive debut in its first appearance at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships, downing No. 7 Stanford 4-1 in a first round match Thursday afternoon at the Mid-Town Tennis Club. The win improves the Cavaliers record to 6-0 on the season, as they handed the Cardinal (6-1) their first defeat of the season.
Virginia opened the match by taking the doubles point in dramatic fashion. The Cavalier duo of first-years Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) scored a 8-5 win over Phil Sheng and Eric McKean at No. 2 doubles. The Cardinal drew even when second ranked KC Corkery and Sam Warburg held off the No. 19 ranked team of Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky,) 9-7. With the doubles point on the line, the Cavalier team of Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) and Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) defeated Jon Wong and James Wan in a tiebreaker 9-8 (5) to clinch the point.
In singles, the Cavaliers extended their lead at the bottom of the lineup. Cohen made the score 2-0 as he cruised past McKean at No. 6 singles, 6-1, 6-3. Huey increased the advantage to 3-0 in favor of Virginia with his 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles over Phil Kao. Stanford got their lone point at No. 3 singles, where Sheng upset No. 22 ranked Devvarman 6-2, 6-2. Then, in a battle of top-20 players, No. 19 ranked Stewart defeated No. 4 ranked Warburg 6-4, 6-4 at No. 1 singles to clinch the match for Virginia. The last two matches were abandoned.
“I was obviously proud of the team’s effort today,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “Stanford is a great program and we were pleased with how well we performed. The doubles point was critical since it gave us momentum into the singles. We look forward to another great match tomorrow.”
The Cavaliers advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round where they will play No. 2 UCLA, a 4-2 winner over No. 30 Oklahoma State on Thursday. That quarterfinal will begin at noon (CT) at the Mid-Town Tennis Club.
No. 9 Virginia 4, No. 7 Stanford 1
Doubles:
1. #2 Warburg/Corkery (Stan) def. #19 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 9-7
2. Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. Sheng/McKean (Stan) 8-5
3. Stewart/Cohen (UVa) def. Wong/Wan (Stan) 9-8 (5)
Singles:
1. #19 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. #4 Sam Warburg (Stan) 6-4, 6-4
2. #36 Rylan Rizza (UVa) led #15 KC Corkery (Stan) 7-6(2), 2-2 DNF
3. Phil Sheng (Stan) def. #22 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) 6-2, 6-2
4. #63 Marko Miklo (UVa) led James Wan (Stan) 6-5 DNF
5. #104 Treat Huey (UVa) def. Phil Kao (Stan) 6-2, 6-3
6. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Eric McKean (Stan) 6-1, 6-3