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May 22, 2005
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The second ranked Virginia men’s tennis team had its historic 2005 season come to an end Sunday afternoon as it fell 4-1 to No. 6 UCLA in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Reaching the quarterfinals marked the farthest the Cavaliers had ever reached in the tournament.
UCLA jumped out to an early edge in the doubles, as Chris Lam and Luben Pampoulov defeated Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) and Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) 8-1 at the No. 3 position. Virginia drew even when first-years Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) rallied from down a break at 6-5 to win the final three games of the match for an 8-6 win over Philipp Gruendler and Benjamin Kohlloeffel at No. 2 doubles. The opening point came down to the matchup at No. 1 doubles between two top-25 ranked teams. The Bruins picked up the point as #19 ranked Alberto Francis and Kris Kwinta topped #21 Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) and Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) 9-7 to give UCLA a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
In a singles matchup between the only two teams in the nation to feature five nationally ranked players in the lineup, the Cavaliers needed to win four of the six to rally in the dual match. However, the hole grew larger for Virginia as Pampoulov defeated Stewart in straight sets at No. 1 singles and Alberto Francis defeated Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) at No. 5 singles to increase the Bruin advantage to 3-0. The other four matches all went three sets, with Virginia needing to sweep all four. The Cavaliers won the first three-setter completed as Huey topped Lam 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. The Bruins would clinch the match a few minutes later as Kohlloeffel defeated Devvarman 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.
Virginia had their school record 16-match win streak snapped with the loss. The Cavaliers end season with a 27-3 record, setting a new school record for wins in a season. The Bruins (25-3) advances to Monday’s semifinals where they will meet Ole Miss.
“This was a great college tennis match but the result still stings,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “The doubles point got away from us and that was a key. We still had a chance to win the match without it, but it would have been a big momentum boost for us to win it. We had a great effort today, but it just wasn’t enough against a great UCLA team.”
“We will be back next year,” added Boland. “We have everyone retuning and we are going to work even harder. The feeling we have right now will stay with us for a while and will serve as good inspiration to work even harder in the future.”
All seven players that competed for Virginia in the match have eligibility remaining for next year. For several Cavaliers, the season will continue on Wednesday as the NCAA Individual Tournaments begin in College Station. Stewart, Devvarman, and Rizza will compete in the 64-player Singles Championship and Rizza and Meythaler will participate in the 32-team Doubles Championship.
No. 6 UCLA 4, No. 2 Virginia 1
Doubles:
1. #19 Francis/Kwinta (UCLA) def. #21 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 9-7
2. #39 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. #58 Gruendler/Kohlloeffel (UCLA) 8-6
3. Lam/Pampoulov (UCLA) def. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) 8-1
Singles:
1. #7 Luben Pampoulov (UCLA) def. #12 Doug Stewart (UVa) 6-1, 6-2
2. #11 Benjamin Kohlloeffel (UCLA) def. #30 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. #60 Kris Kwinta (UCLA) led #33 Rylan Rizza (UVa) 7-6, 2-6, 1-0 DNF
4. Treat Huey (UVa) def. Chris Lam (UCLA) 7-5, 1-6, 6-1
5. #109 Alberto Francis (UCLA) def. #112 Marko Miklo (UVa) 6-3, 6-4
6. #85 Philipp Gruendler (UCLA) led #81 Darrin Cohen (UVa) 5-7, 6-4, 3-2 DNF