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May 26, 2005
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The 2005 Virginia men’s tennis season came to an end Thursday as the Cavaliers were eliminated from the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center. Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) fell in the second round of the singles tournament while Rizza and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) fell in the first round of the doubles tournament.
Devvarman fell to Pierrik Ysern of San Diego, a 9-16 seed in the tournament, 6-4, 6-1 in his second round match. Devvarman opened the match strong, breaking Ysern’s serve in the first game of the match only to have Ysern break back the following game. The match was tied 4-4 in the first set when play was halted for three hours due to rain. After the delay, Ysern came out strong, held his serve and then broke Devvarman to win the first set 6-4. Ysern continued his strong play to open the second set, winning the first three games en route to winning the set 6-1.
Rizza fell to Benjamin Kohlloeffel of UCLA, a 9-16 seed in the tournament, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 in his second round match. The match remained on serve in the first set until Rizza broke Kohlloeffel’s serve to take a 3-2 lead. Rizza held that one break advantage at 5-4 and was serving for the first set when Kohlloeffel broke his serve to even the opening set at 5-5. However, Rizza would break back the following game and but once again could not serve out the set and it went to a tiebreaker. Rizza did not let his earlier chances to close out the first set effect his play in the breaker, as he took control early and cruised to a 7-0 win in the tiebreaker to win the set.
Kohlloeffel took an early advantage in the second set when he went up a break at 2-1 and controlled the set throughout en route to taking it 6-2. Kohlloeffel carried that momentum into the third set as he broke Rizza’s serve in the first game. However, Rizza responded by breaking back in the next game to get back on serve. The set remained on serve until Kohlloeffel broke Rizza’s serve again to take a 3-2 lead. Kohlloeffel broke Rizza again at 4-2 and took the deciding set 6-3.
Rizza and Meythaler fell to third-seeded Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga of Baylor, 6-4, 6-2, in the first round. The teams remained on serve in the first set until the Baylor duo broke serve to take a 5-4 lead and then served out to win the first set 6-4. In the second set, Dorsch and Zgaga went up a break at 2-1. The Baylor duo went up two breaks later in the set, which they won 6-2. It was Rizza and Meythaler’s fourth loss to Dorsch and Zgaga in a little over a year, having lost to them in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament and twice in regular season dual matches this year.
The Cavaliers concluded the season with a 27-3 record and were ranked No. 5 in the final ITA computer rankings of the season, released Thursday.