#3 Cavalier Men's Tennis Downs #5 Duke 4-3

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April 8, 2005

DURHAM, N.C. – The third ranked Virginia men’s tennis team took sole possession of first place in the ACC standings, downing No. 5 ranked Duke 4-3 at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (19-2, 7-0 ACC) have now won a school record nine consecutive ACC regular season matches, while the Blue Devils (15-3, 5-1) suffered their first home loss of the season.

The match began outdoors and the Cavaliers dominated the play early. No. 60 ranked team of Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandia, Va.) made quick work of No. 48 Jonathan Stokke and Peter Rodrigues, 8-1, at No. 2 doubles. The No. 32 ranked team of Nick Meythaler (Owensboro, Ky.) and Rylan Rizza (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) were leading 6-1 over No. 43 Jason Zimmerman and Ludovic Walter at No. 1 doubles when the rain came. The match was moved indoors where Rizza and Meythaler clinched the point by completing the 8-3 win. The final doubles match was abandoned.

In singles, the Blue Devils rallied to tie the match when Peter Shults upset No. 50 ranked Darrin Cohen (Lafayette, Calif.) 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. Duke took a 2-1 lead when No. 118 ranked Stokke upset No. 17 ranked Devvarman 7-5, 7-5 at No. 3 singles. The Cavaliers answered back when Marko Miklo (Bratislava, Slovakia) defeated Charles Brezec 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles. Virginia retook the lead when Treat Huey completed a three-set win, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, over No. 103 ranked Rodrigues at No. 4 singles. Duke once again came back to tie the match when No. 3 ranked Walter defeated No. 11 ranked Doug Stewart (Malibu, Calif.) 6-4, 7-5 at No. 1 singles. The dual match then came down to the match at No. 2 singles between No. 59 ranked Rizza and No. 76 ranked Stephen Amritraj. Amritraj won the first set in a tiebreaker before Rizza won the second set at love. In the third set, Amritraj went up a break 3-2, but Rizza came back to win the final four games of the match to clinch the win for the Cavaliers. The result was similar to last season’s match between the teams in Charlottesville, when Rizza was also rallied from down a break in the third set to defeat Walter and clinch a 4-3 win.

“This was a great ACC match this afternoon,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “Our team fought to the end today and I am proud of them for that. We had a lot of momentum in doubles that was lost when we had to move indoors. We got behind in singles but we rallied. Rizza really stepped up and elevated his play at the end when we needed him.”

The Cavaliers return to action on Sunday when they travel to North Carolina.

No. 3 Virginia 4, No. 5 Duke 3

Doubles:
1. #32 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) def. #43 Walter/Zimmerman (Duke) 8-3
2. #60 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. #48 Rodrigues/Stokke (Duke) 8-1
3. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) led Amritraj/Shults (Duke) 6-5 DNF

Singles:
1. #3 Ludovic Walter (Duke) def. #11 Doug Stewart (UVa) 6-4, 7-5
2. #59 Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. #76 Stephen Amritraj (Duke) 6-7, 6-0, 6-3
3. #118 Jonathan Stokke (Duke) def. #17 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) 7-5, 7-5
4. Treat Huey (UVa) def. #103 Peter Rodrigues (Duke) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
5. #125 Marko Miklo (UVa) def. Charles Brezec (Duke) 6-3, 6-4
6. Peter Shults (Duke) def. #50 Darrin Cohen (UVa) 6-1, 6-1