Feb. 9, 2008

Virginia Tech Defeats Boston College in ACC Opener

WEYMOUTH, Mass. - The Virginia Tech men's tennis team opened the ACC portion of the dual match season with a solid 5-2 win over Boston College Friday evening. Tech improved to 6-0, 1-0 while the Eagles fell to 1-2, 0-1.

Tech, ranked No. 37 in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association national poll, won a tight doubles competition then took four of the six singles matches to complete the victory. The Hokies not only had to battle the Eagles, but a long day of travel as the team departed the Virginia Tech campus at 5 a.m. for the flight to the Boston area for the match.

Leading 1-0 following doubles, Brandon Corace (Jr., Naples, Fla.) continued his improved play after winning the deciding match in last week's 4-3 win over Penn State, with a 6-3, 6-1, win at No. 5 against Sam Wagner. Sebastien Jacques (Fr., Magog, Quebec, Canada) took a 6-2, 6-0, decision at No. 4 over Erik Kreutzer, before BC got on the board as Thomas Nolan defeated Yoann Re (So., Verdun, Quebec, Canada), 6-4, 6-2, in the No. 2 match.

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No. 1 Virginia Tops Kentucky, 4-3

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Despite missing two of the top three ranked players in the country, the No. 1 Virginia men's tennis team continued its winning streak, downing No. 47 Kentucky 4-3 Friday night at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club. A season-high crowd of 716 was in attendance to see the Cavaliers improve to 6-0 this season.

"This was the competitive match that we knew it was going to be," said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. "Kentucky is a great team. I am pleased that our team continues to improve with every match. We are taking it one day at a time, especially since we have an incredibly tough schedule. If we keep working hard, things will come together. We now have to get ready for a tough Harvard team on Sunday."

The Cavaliers were without the services of senior Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India), the nation's top ranked singles player, and junior Dominic Inglot (London, England), ranked No. 3 nationally. Devvarman returned home this week to play for India in the Davis Cup against Uzbekistan. Inglot, who has recently been hampered by a sore arm, was rested for precautionary reasons. Boland calls Inglot's status day-to-day and that he could return as early as Sunday.

Clemson Splits Men's Tennis Double Header

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Clemson defeated Loyola Marymount 6-1 and lost to sixth-ranked Southern Cal 6-1 in men's intercollegiate tennis action at Los Angeles, CA Friday.

Including today's matches, Clemson is now 6-4 overall. Loyola Marymount is now 1-1 on the season and Southern Cal is now 6-0 this year.

In the match against the Lions, Clemson dominated in doubles action, taking all three matches from LMU. In singles, Rok Bizjak defeated the Lions' Jacek Twarowski 6-3, 7-5 at the number one position.

In the Southern Cal match, the Trojans won the doubles point and won five of the six singles matches. Carlos Alvarez scored the only victory for the Tigers at number five singles as he defeated Jason McNaughton 6-3, 6-4.

No. 26 NC State Falls at No. 18 Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The NC State men's tennis team fell in its first road match of the season to No. 18 Michigan, 6-1. With the win, Michigan improves to 4-1 and NC State falls to 4-2. Junior Christian Welte remained undefeated in singles with his win at No. 5, improving to 6-0 on the season.

The Pack dropped all three doubles matches to start play, including a close 8-6 decision at No. 1, as No. 16 Nick Cavaday and Jay Weinacker fell.

The Pack men kept it interesting in singles before the Wolverines pulled away.

Welte got his six win of the young season with a three-set triumph to close the match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

Ohio State 5, Wake Forest 1

More to follow...