Cavalier Men's Tennis Tops VCU 4-3 to Remain Undefeated

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Feb. 2, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team won its second away match of this young season as it topped No. 12 VCU 4-3 in a grueling six and a half hour marathon on Friday afternoon. The Cavaliers improve to 4-0 with the win, while the Rams fall to 6-2.

“The special thing about today was that we were able to see two first-years, Houston Barrick and Lee Singer come up big for us in a real pressure situation,” said head coach Brian Boland. “These matches are the types of experiences they need to have in order to grow as players. Houston’s victory was definitely the turning point, in a match that we had to have to win.”

Virginia won the doubles point for the fourth consecutive match. The team of Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Dominic Inglot (London, England) were defeated by Emil Lindgren and Sebastian Ripoll at No. 2 doubles, 8-5, in the first completed doubles match. At the No. 1 position, Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) defeated Arnaud Lecloerec and Petr Olsak, 9-7. Ted Angelinos (Athens, Greece) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) clinched the opening point for the Cavaliers, with an 8-6 victory over Sergi Arumi and Sebastien Deridder at the No. 3 position. 

Five of the six singles matches went to three sets as the two teams fought for every single point down the stretch. At No. 1 singles, #8 Devvarman defeated Arumi, 6-2, 6-2, to put the Cavaliers up 2-0. VCU won the next two matches to tie the overall team score at 2 all, with Lecloerec defeating #10 Huey at the No. 2 slot 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 and Lindgren besting Inglot at the No. 3 position, 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-2. At No. 4 singles, Barrick battled through an injury to win an extraordinarily tough match against Georges-Alexandre Israel, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. Angelinos fell to Deridder at the No. 5 position to once again tie the team score, 6-3, 0-6, 6-4. Singer came up huge for the Cavaliers with a gutty 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Ripoll at the No. 6 position to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

“It was a tight match,” added Boland. “I thought VCU played an excellent match and they are no question one of the best teams in the country this year. I thought this was a great college tennis match, with all the ups and downs and swings in momentum. It was extremely competitive and at the end of the day will make our guys better towards the end of the season.”

Virginia next travels to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama on Sunday, Feb. 4.

No. 5 Virginia 4, No. 12 VCU 3

Doubles:

1. # 7 Devvarman/Huey (UVa.) def. Le Cloerec/Olsak (VCU), 9-7
2. Lindgren/Ripoll (VCU) def. Barrick/Inglot (UVa.), 8-5
3. Angelinos/Singer (UVa.) def. Arumi/Deridder, 8-6
Order of Finish: 2,1,3

Singles:

1. #8 Somdev Devvarman (UVa.) def. Sergi Arumi 6-2, 6-2

2. Arnaud Lecloerec (VCU) def. #10 Treat Huey (UVa.), 7-5, 2-6, 6-3

3. Emil Lindgren (VCU) def. Dominic Inglot (UVa.), 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-2

4. Houston Barrick (UVa.) def. Georges-Alexandre Israel (VCU), 5-7, 7-5, 6-2

5. Sebastien Deridder (VCU) def. Ted Angelinos (UVa), 6-3, 0-6, 6-4
6. Lee Singer (UVa) def. Sebastian Ripoll 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1,2,3,4,5,6