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Cavalier Men's Tennis Tops Notre Dame
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Feb. 27, 2005
RICHMOND, Va. – The No. 2 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team recorded its tenth win of the season, downing No. 24 Notre Dame 4-3 Sunday afternoon before a standing room crowd of over 500 at the Country Club of Virginia. With the win, the Cavaliers conclude the indoor portion of their schedule with a 10-1 record.
The match opened with No. 5 and No. 6 singles being played in the morning. At No. 5 singles, Notre Dame’s Irackli Akhvlediani upset No. 36 ranked Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) to give the Irish an early lead. No. 86 ranked Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) drew the Cavaliers even at 1-1, when he topped Patrick Buchanan in straight sets at No. 6 singles.
Notre Dame (10-3) retook the lead after capturing the doubles point. The Cavalier duo of Cohen and Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) won at No. 3 doubles, however, the Fighting Irish won at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to capture the point.
The match concluded with the No. 1 through No. 4 singles matches. Virginia again tied the match when No. 7 ranked Stewart cruised past Brent D’Amico 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. The Cavaliers took the lead when No. 13 Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) scored a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 100 ranked Barry King at No. 3 singles. The Fighting Irish tied the match at 3-3 when Sheeva Parbhu topped Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) at No. 4 singles, forcing the dual match to come down to No. 2 singles. In that match, Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) won the first set from Stephen Bass, only to have Bass win the second set in a tiebreaker. In the third set, Rizza broke Bass in his first service game and held that advantage for a 6-3 win.
In between doubles and singles, there was a ceremony to recognize a new endowed tennis scholarship at Virginia in the name of Hal Burrows. Burrows was a standout on the UVa men’s tennis team in the 1940s and went on to have a successful pro tennis career.
“Today was a great college tennis match,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “Notre Dame really fought hard. It is good for a team to feel this type of pressure this early in the season and come through. Rylan did a great job at the end coming through when his team needed him. I want to thank the Country Club of Virginia for letting us come and play this match here. Today was also very meaningful with the honoring of Hal. I have known him since I arrived in Charlottesville and he is a great ambassador of tennis at not only our University, but nationwide.”
The Cavaliers will return to action on Friday, March 4 as they kick off a four-match tour of Texas with a match at TCU.
No. 2 Virginia 4, No. 24 Notre Dame 3
Doubles:
1. D’Amico/Keckley (ND) def. Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 9-7
2. #60 Langenkamp/Parbhu (ND) def. #23 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) 8-5
3. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) def. S.Bass/King (ND) 8-3
Singles:
1. #7 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. Brent D’Amico (ND) 6-2, 6-4
2. #38 Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. Stephen Bass (ND) 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
3. #13 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. #100 Barry King (ND) 6-3, 6-4
4. Sheeva Parbhu (ND) def. Treat Huey (UVa) 7-5, 7-5
5. Irackli Akhvlediani (ND) def. #36 Darrin Cohen (UVa) 7-5, 7-6
6. #86 Marko Miklo (UVa) def. Patrick Buchanan (ND) 7-5, 6-4