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April 22, 2006
DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 9 ranked Virginia men’s tennis team reached the final of the ACC Tournament for the third consecutive season with a 4-2 win over No. 10 Miami Saturday night. The Cavaliers improved to 21-7 on the season with the win, as they captured their eighth consecutive ACC Tournament victory.
The match was delayed five and a half hours due to rain before being moved indoors to the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of Duke University. When play began, the Cavaliers opened the match by taking the doubles point. The team of Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) scored an 8-3 win over Tim Krebs and Vivek Subramanian at No. 2 doubles. Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) and Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) clinched the opening point with an 8-4 win over Eric Hechtman and P.J. Passalacqua at the No. 3 position. The win was Cohen’s 100th career doubles victory, as he becomes just the second Cavalier to reach that plateau.
In singles, the Hurricanes came out strong, winning four of the first sets. In the other two matches, play had to be halted after the roof at Duke’s indoor facility developed leaks and water dripped onto those courts. However, at No. 6 singles, Cohen rallied to win the second set against John Hoyes, 6-1, before winning the final set 6-2 to give Virginia a 2-0 lead. Miami rallied to tie the score at 2-2, as Josh Cohen defeated Stewart at No. 3 and Luigi D’Agord downed Devvarman at No. 1. Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) rallied from dropping the first set to win the second set and force a third set in his match against Hechtman. In the final set, Miklo was up two breaks, 4-1, when he suffered an injured foot. After taking a medical timeout, Miklo was able to keep playing despite having his mobility severely hampered. Hechtman broke Miklo to get the score to 4-2, but Miklo was able to break back to go up 5-2. Miklo then was able to hold serve to clinch the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to give Virginia a 3-2 lead. Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) then clinched the dual match as he completed a 6-4, 7-5 win over Daniel Vallverdu at No. 2 singles.
“Tonight was a great college tennis match,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “I cannot say enough about Marko Miklo and the performance he had to win his match. He battled through some adversity to get an important win for our team. Overall, the match was a tremendous battle that neither team deserved to lose.”
The Cavaliers will go for their third consecutive ACC Championship on Sunday as they meet No. 3 Duke in the final. Match time at the Cary Tennis Center has been moved to 1:00 p.m.
No. 9 Virginia 4, No. 10 Miami 2
Doubles:
1) #15 D’Agord/Vallverdu (Miami) led #10 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) 7-2
2) Huey/Devvarman (UVa) def. Krebs/Subramanian (Miami) 8-3
3. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) def. Hechtman/Passalacqua (Miami) 8-4
Singles:
1. #4 Luigi D’Agord (Miami) def. #13 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) 6-4, 7-6
2. #45 Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. #101 Daniel Vallverdu (Miami) 6-4, 7-5
3. #97 Josh Cohen (Miami) def. #86 Doug Stewart (UVa) 6-4, 6-4
4. #53 Treat Huey (UVa) led Tim Krebs (Miami) 6-4, 5-5 DNF
5. Marko Miklo (UVa) def. Eric Hechtman (Miami) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
6. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. John Hoyes (Miami) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2