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Cavalier Men's Tennis Opens ACC Play With Win Over Virginia Tech
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Feb. 25, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 2 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team opened their defense of their ACC Championship with a 6-1 victory over No. 63 Virginia Tech Friday night at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. It was the third consecutive year the Cavaliers opened ACC play with a win, while the Hokies were defeated in their first ever ACC match.
Virginia (9-1, 1-0) opened the match by sweeping the doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. The team of first-years Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.), ranked No. 23 nationally, cruised to an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles. That win was followed by a win by Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) at No. 1 doubles to clinch the point. Third-years Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) and Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) completed the sweep when they were victorious at No. 3 doubles in a tiebreaker.
In singles, the Cavaliers won the first five matches off the court to build a 6-0 lead before Virginia Tech (5-4, 0-1) captured the final match on the courts. Stewart made the score 2-0 when he completed a straight set win at No. 1 singles. Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) extended the Cavalier lead to 3-0 with his win at No. 5 singles. Cohen then clinched the match when he completed a straight set win at No. 6 singles. Huey and Devvarman then rallied from dropping the first set to pick up the final two wins of the night for the Cavaliers.
“It is always good to get a win to start ACC play,” said Virginia assistant coach Tony Bresky. “Give Tech credit, they were able to push us. Sunday we will need to come out with more focus and energy.”
The Cavaliers will return to action on Sunday, February 27 as they will take on No. 24 Notre Dame at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond. Time of the match is 1:00 p.m.
No. 2 Virginia 6, No. 63 Virginia Tech 1
Doubles:
1. Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) def. Rod/Sergeev (VT) 8-5
2. #23 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. Wilkins/Diankov (VT) 8-1
3. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) def. Puranen/Larregola (VT) 9-8
Singles:
1. #7 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. Arvid Puranen (VT) 6-2, 6-4
2. Stephane Rod (VT) def. #38 Rylan Rizza (UVa) 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
3. #13 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. Albert Larregola (VT) 2-6, 7-6, 10-3
4. Treat Huey (UVa) def. Angel Diankov (VT) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. #86 Marko Miklo (UVa) def. Alexei Sergeev (VT) 6-2, 6-1
6. #36 Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Brent Wilkins (VT) 7-5, 6-3