Cavalier Men's Tennis Rallies to Defeat No. 12 Texas A&M

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March 11, 2005

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The second ranked Virginia men’s tennis team concluded its Spring Break trip to Texas with a 4-3 come from behind victory at No. 12 Texas A&M Friday night before a crowd of 719 at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. The Cavaliers trailed 3-1 in the match, but rallied to win the final three matches for their eighth win this season over a team currently ranked in the top 25.

The Cavaliers (13-2) fell behind early 1-0 as Texas A&M (5-2) captured the doubles point. Virginia got a win at No. 2 doubles, where the No. 44 ranked team of Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) downed Mohamed Dakki and Jerry Makowski 8-4. The Aggies drew even when No. 37 ranked Brett Joelson and Ante Matijevic rallied for a 9-7 win over No. 29 ranked Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) at No. 1 doubles. Texas A&M then clinched the point with a 9-8 win at No. 3 doubles by Bryan Wooten and Zack Malmgren over Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) and Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.).

In singles, the Cavaliers drew even early as Huey downed No. 72 ranked Wooten 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. The Aggies retook the lead, 2-1, when Joelson defeated Meythaler 6-4, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. Texas A&M extended that lead to 3-1 when No. 12 ranked Makowski won at No. 2 singles over Rizza. No. 15 ranked Devvarman cut the lead in half when he posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Yevgeny Supeko at No. 3 singles. The match was became tied at 3-3 when Dakki was defaulted at No. 5 singles, giving Cohen the win. Cohen led 2-1 in the third set when the match was stopped. The dual match came down to the final match on the courts, a battle between Stewart and Matijevic at No. 1 singles. Matijevic won the first set, 6-4, and Stewart won the second set, 6-3. In the third set that would decide the dual match remained close and eventually went to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Stewart shined and won the breaker 7-1 to clinch the win for the Cavaliers.

“Tonight was a highly competitive tennis match,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “It was the end of a tough road trip for us and we didn’t play our best. I am really proud of this team because of how they overcame the adversity and didn’t give up. The matches we have had on this trip have been highly competitive and will help us in the long run of the season.”

The Cavaliers will return to action on Wednesday, March 16 as they resume ACC play with a match at Florida State.

No. 2 Virginia 4, No. 12 Texas A&M 3

Doubles:
1. #37 Joelson/Matijevic (A&M) def. #29 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 9-7
2. #44 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. Dakki/Makowski (A&M) 8-4
3. Wooten/Malmgren (A&M) def. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) 9-8

Singles:
1. #8 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. Ante Matijevic (A&M) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1)
2. #12 Jerry Makowski (A&M) def. #38 Rylan Rizza (UVa) 7-5, 6-4
3. #15 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. Yevgeny Supeko (A&M) 6-4, 6-2
4. Treat Huey (UVa) def. #72 Bryan Wooten (A&M) 6-1, 6-2
5. #40 Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Mohamed Dakki (A&M) 4-6, 6-3, 2-1 def.
6. Brett Joelson (A&M) def. Nick Meythaler (UVa) 6-4, 6-0