Virginia Men's Tennis Wins ACC Championship With 5-0 Victory Over North Carolina
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April 22, 2007
CARY, N.C. – The Virginia men’s tennis team won its third ACC Tournament in four seasons, topping No. 6 North Carolina 5-0 Sunday in the final of the 2007 ACC Tournament at the Cary Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (26-3) have now won 16 consecutive matches against ACC opponents, dating back to last season.
“I am so proud of this team,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland, “The ACC is one of, if not the best conference in the country. To win three of these in four years says a lot about our team. I feel great about where the program is and how much we have improved over the past few years. This weekend gives us a lot of momentum heading into the NCAA Tournament.”
In doubles, the Cavaliers took an early advantage as Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) cruised to an 8-0 win over Lenny Gullan and David Stone at No. 1 doubles. The Tar Heels drew even as Sebastian Guejman and Stefan Hardy topped Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Dominic Inglot (London, England) 8-6 at the No. 2 position. With the doubles point resting in the balance, the team of Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif,) and Ted Angelinos (Athens, Greece) defeated Chris Kearney and Taylor Fogleman 8-6 at No. 3 to give Virginia a 1-0 lead.
“The doubles point was extremely important to give us the momentum,” Boland said. “Our No. 3 team had some struggles earlier in the tournament, but we stuck with them and they came up big for us today.”
In singles, the score quickly became 2-0 as Huey rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kearney at No. 2 singles. Minutes later, there was a race between three Cavaliers to capture the final two points. Angelinos made it 3-0 with his 6-1, 6-2 win over Will Plyler at the No. 6 postion. Less than a minute later, Inglot clinched the championship with his 6-1, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles against Hardy. Devvarman had match point coming against Benjamin Carlotti at No. 1 singles when the Cavaliers clinched, but the players agreed to play out the game, which Devvarman took to record a 6-1, 6-2 win.
“It feels so great to win the tournament because it is a reward for all our hard work over the season,” Devvarman said. “I have give Carlotti a lot of credit. I was at match point when we clinched and he was nice enough to play it out. Not many guys would be willing to do that.”
Angelinos was named ACC Tournament MVP. After moving into the lineup at No. 6 singles for the first match of the tournament, he picked up three singles wins, losing just six games in the process.
“It’s nice to be named MVP, but that isn’t as important as what we were able to accomplish as a team,” Angelinos said. “I started off the week not being in the singles lineup, but got my shot and made the most of it. Coach stressed to me that you always have to be ready to go in, and it paid off for me this weekend.”
Virginia earned the ACC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with the championship. The 64-team field will be announced on May 1.
#2 Virginia 5, #6 North Carolina 0
Doubles
1. #2 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. Gullan/Stone (UNC) 8-0
2. Guejman/Hardy (UNC) def. Barrick/Inglot (UVa) 8-6
3. Angelinos/Singer (UVa) def. Kearney/Fogleman (UNC) 8-6
Singles
1. #2 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. #64 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) 6-1, 6-2
2. #20 Treat Huey (UVa) def. #125 Chris Kearney (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
3. #108 Dominic Inglot (UVa) def. Stefan Hardy (UNC) 6-1, 6-4
4. Marko Miklo (UVa) led Taylor Fogelman (UNC) 6-4, 1-2 DNF
5. Houston Barrick (UVa) led Sebastian Guejman (UNC) 3-6, 6-0, 1-0 DNF
6. Ted Angelinos (UVa) def. Will Plyler (UNC) 6-1, 6-2