Feb. 16, 2008

Virginia Downs Penn State 4-0 in National Indoor First Round

SEATTLE - The Virginia men's tennis team matched the best start to a season in school history (8-0) with a 4-0 win over No. 38 Penn State Friday afternoon in the opening round of the 2008 ITA National Team Indoor Championships. With the victory, the top-ranked Cavaliers advance to the quarterfinals of the event for the third time in the past four seasons.

"I was pleased with our overall performance," said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. "The first match of any tournament is always going to be difficult. I thought we did a good job of coming out in doubles and grabbling the momentum. Give Penn State credit, they are an outstanding team that competed extremely hard. They made us have to earn this victory."

The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead in the match by winning the doubles point. The top-ranked duo of Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) cruised to an 8-3 win over Adam Slagter and Eddie Bourchier at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) topped Ryan Gormley and Jake Toole 8-5 to clinch the opening point for Virginia.

Miami Cruises to 6-1 Win Over UCF

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The 26th-ranked University of Miami men's tennis team rolled past UCF, 6-1, on Friday afternoon to improve 4-0 at home in the Neil Schiff Tennis Center this season.

"I think that Vivek [Subramanian] and Carl [Sundberg] played well today and helped us put away some tough matches," said Miami head coach Mario Rincon. "UCF is a very well-coached team and is always ready to play. All of the Florida teams play each other very tough."

With strong doubles wins at the No. 1 and 2 positions, the Hurricanes (5-2) jumped out to the 1-0 lead over the Knights (2-3). Miami's 30th-ranked duo of All-American Daniel Vallverdu and Carl Sundberg cruised to the 8-1 win at No. 1, while UM's 18th-ranked pair of Vivek Subramanian and David Rosenfeld clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 win at No. 2.

UNC Opens ITA Team Indoor with Loss to #5 Ole Miss

SEATTLE - Fifth ranked Mississippi defeated North Carolina, 4-1, Friday morning in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoors. The Tar Heels will face fourth ranked Baylor tomorrow at 8 a.m. PST, while the 5-1 Rebels advanced to play Oklahoma State in Saturday's quarterfinals.

The Rebels jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after securing the team doubles point with victories of 8-2 and 8-3 at the number one and number two doubles spots, respectively. The Rebels' top two doubles teams are ranked among the top 25 in the country. The final doubles match was not finished, as the team point had already been decided.

Ole Miss' top four singles players were all nationally ranked at the time of Friday's match. However, Carolina jumped to early leads in the first set of two of the top four matches. Stefan Hardy brought the Tar Heels within 2-1, defeating fifth ranked Mathias Wellerman, 6-1, 6-3. With the Rebels ahead 3-1, Robbye Poole overcame a 5-3 deficit in the second set to defeat Clay Donato 7-5, 7-5 and clinch the overall team match.