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May 24, 2005
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The NCAA announced the draws for the 2005 individual men’s tennis championships which begin Wednesday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Virginia has a school record three participants in the 64-player Singles Championship field and one team in the 32-team Doubles Championship Field.
Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) is making his third appearance in the NCAA Singles Tournament and will open play in this year’s tournament with a first round match against Adil Shamasdin of Brown. Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) makes his Singles Championship debut with a first round match against Robert Searle of Rice. Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) is also making his first Singles Championship appearance and will open play with a first round match against Ken Skupski of LSU.
Rizza and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) are making their second appearance in the NCAA Doubles Championship. The doubles tournament begins Thursday as the Cavalier team will play the No. 3 seed, Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga of Baylor. Rizza and Meythaler will be looking for their first ever win over the Baylor duo, having lost three previous meetings. The two teams met in the first round of last year’s NCAA Doubles Championship, with Dorsch and Zgaga posting a 6-3, 6-2 win. The Baylor team also recorded wins over Rizza and Meythaler in both dual matches between Virginia and Baylor this season.
The Cavaliers concluded the 2005 team season with a 4-1 loss to UCLA in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in College Station. Virginia ended the season with a 27-3 record and set school records for wins in a year, best finish in the NCAA Tournament, and highest ranking (#2).