Story Links

Jan. 26, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team opened the new Indoor Tennis Stadium at the Boar’s Head Sports Club with a 4-3 win over No. 33 VCU Wednesday night. The intrastate rivals battled for 4 hours and 20 minutes in front of a crowd of 527, the second-largest in Virginia tennis history, before the Cavaliers captured the win in their home opener.

The Cavaliers (3-1) opened the match strong, sweeping the three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. The No. 25 ranked team of Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) and Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) got the Cavaliers started with an 8-3 victory over Francesc Lleal and Sergi Arumi at the No. 3 position. The No. 35 ranked team of Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) clinched the doubles point as they topped Petr Olsak and Sebastian Ripoll 8-5 at No. 1 doubles. Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) completed the sweep at No. 2 doubles, with an 8-6 win over Arnaud Lecloerec and Emil Lindgren.

In singles, VCU (6-1) tied the match at 1-1 with as Damien Lacombe defeated Cohen at No. 6. The Cavaliers retook the lead, 2-1, as Huey completed a straight set win, 6-4, 6-2 over Arumi at No. 4. Stewart increased the lead to 3-1 as he topped Olsak in three sets at No. 2 singles. After VCU cut the lead to 3-2 with a win at No. 5, Devvarman clinched the win for Virginia as he battled back from down a break in the third set to defeat Arnaud Lecloerec 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 at No. 1 singles. Seconds later, the Rams won at No. 3 singles to make the final score 4-3.

“Tonight was a great college tennis match,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “We had a lot of energy in doubles and that carried into singles. The crowd was incredible tonight and really gave us a boost in doubles. It was really exciting to finally play in our new indoor facility. VCU is an incredibly good team and gave us a challenge tonight. I was really impressed with Somdev, in how he battled back from down a break in the third, then held serve at 3-3 in a game that had about 15 deuces. I was also pleased with Doug, he played with a lot of fire tonight and his game is coming around.”

The crowd of 527 is the largest indoor crowd in Virginia history, and is second for all home matches to the 627 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Indoor Tennis Stadium is the centerpiece of the $7.5 million dollar expansion of the Boar’s Head Sports Club completed earlier this month. The project, financed by the club and by the UVa Athletics Department, can hold up to 1,000 spectators.

The Cavaliers return to action on Friday, January 27 as they play No. 26 Notre Dame at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond. Match time is 3:00 p.m.

No. 1 Virginia 4, No. 33 VCU 3

Doubles
(1) #35 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. Olsak/Ripoll (VCU) 8-5
(2) Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) def. Lecloerec/Linbgren (VCU) 8-6
(3) #25 Cohen/Stewart (UVa) def. Lleal/Arumi (VCU) 8-3

Singles
(1) #10 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. #51 Arnaud Lecloerec (VCU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
(2) Doug Stewart (UVa) def. Petr Olsak (VCU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-4
(3) Francesc Lleal (VCU) def. #53 Rylan Rizza (UVa) 5-7, 7-6, 6-3
(4) #6 Treat Huey (UVa) def. Sergi Arumi (UVa) 6-4, 6-2
(5) Georges-Alexandre Israel (VCU) def. #46 Marko Miklo (UVa) 6-1, 6-3
(6) Damien Lacombe (VCU) def. Darrin Cohen (UVa) 6-0, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6,4,2,5,1*,3

Print Friendly Version