Cavalier Men's Tennis Downs #2 UCLA 4-2 in National Indoor Quarterfinals

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Feb. 18, 2005

CHICAGO – The No. 9 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team made history again on Friday, downing No. 2 UCLA 4-2 Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Mid-Town Tennis Club. The win marked the highest ranked opponent that Cavaliers have ever beaten and made them the first team since 1979 to reach the semifinals in their first National Team Indoor appearance.

Virginia (7-0) fell behind early, dropping the doubles point for the first time all season. The Bruins (9-1) took the first match completed as Ben Kohlloeffel and Luben Pampoulov downed the No. 19 ranked team of Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) and Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) 8-3 at No. 1 doubles. The Cavaliers drew even when Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) and Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) defeated Mathieu Dehaine and Phillipp Gruendler 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. The Bruins then clinched the point when the No. 6 ranked team of Alberto Francis and Kris Kwinta defeated Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) and Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) 8-5 at No. 2 doubles.

The Cavaliers would tie the match at 1-1 early in singles as Cohen posted a 6-3, 6-3 win over Dehaine at No. 6 singles. The Bruins retook the lead 2-1 as No. 99 ranked Kwinta defeated No. 104 Huey in straight sets at No. 5 singles. Virginia again tied the match when No. 22 Devvarman defeated No. 39 Francis 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. Minutes later, the Cavaliers took the lead when No. 36 Rizza topped No. 62 Chris Lam 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Then Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) clinched the match when he completed a 6-2, 6-4 win over Gruendler at No. 4 singles.

“We need to come out with more energy in doubles than we did today,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “We did not play the doubles the we are capable of playing. However, the positive that came out of it was how the team dealt with that adversity and played very focused throughout singles. We look forward to a another great match tomorrow against a talented Ole Miss team.”

The Cavaliers advance to Saturday’s semifinal round where they will play No. 6 Mississippi, who defeated No. 5 Florida in the quarterfinals. That semifinal will begin at noon (CT) at the Mid-Town Tennis Club.

No. 9 Virginia 4, No. 2 UCLA 2

Doubles:
1. Kohlloeffel (UCLA) def. #19 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 8-3
2. #6 Francis/Kwinta (UCLA) def. Devvarman/Huey (UVa) 8-5
3. Stewart/Cohen (UVa) def. Dehaine/Gruendler (UCLA) 8-5

Singles:
1. #19 Doug Stewart (UVa) led #8 Ben Kohlloeffel (UCLA) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (DNF)
2. #36 Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. #62 Chris Lam (UCLA) 6-2, 6-3
3. #22 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. #39 Alberto Francis (UCLA) 6-3, 6-1
4. #63 Marko Miklo (UVa) def. Phillip Gruendler (UCLA) 6-2, 6-4
5. #99 Kris Kwinta (UCLA) def. #104 Treat Huey (UVa) 6-4, 6-3
6. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Mathieu Dehaine (UCLA) 6-3, 6-3