Feb. 25, 2008

Virginia Tech Defeats Maryland, 6-1

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's tennis team remained undefeated on the year with a 6-1 ACC victory over Maryland Sunday afternoon at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. Tech improved to 8-0, 2-0, with the win while Maryland fell to 4-2, 1-1, in the league.

Tech won two of the three doubles matches for the first point of the day then captured five of the six singles matches for the win.

Following the doubles, Maryland briefly tied the match as Amit Inbar upset 86th-ranked Albert Larregola (Sr., Lleida, Spain), 6-2, 6-4, in the No. 1 match, but Tech retook the lead with a 6-4, 6-3, victory by Yoann Re (So., Verdun, Quebec, Canada) in his No. 3 match against Andrew Orban. The Hokies clinched the match with two more wins as Nicolas Delgado de Robles (Jr., Madrid, Spain) defeated David Kwon, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 2, followed by Brandon Corace's (Jr., Naples, Fla.) 6-3, 6-3, triumph at No. 6 versus Alex Aksanov.

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No. 8 Tar Heels Sweep in Singles to Defeat No. 21 VCU

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The nationally 8th-ranked UNC Tar Heels won their third straight match over a top-25 opponent Sunday afternoon, defeating the nation's 21st ranked team, VCU, at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. UNC came back from losing the doubles point to sweep the singles matches, closing the match out at the final score of 4-1. The comeback marks the first time the Tar Heels have rallied for a victory after losing the doubles point since April 2006.

The solid play of the Tar Heels was anchored by veteran leadership, as the singles sweep was sparked by a 6-1, 6-1 victory by senior Will Plyler and was completed when fellow senior Benjamin Carlotti closed out a back and forth match at the number one spot with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win. Straight-sets victories by sophomore Clay Donato and junior Taylor Fogleman were sandwiched in between Plyler and Carlotti's wins, at the scores of 6-2, 6-4, and 6-4, 6-1, respectively. Fogleman went on an impressive tear in his match, as he won 8 of the final 9 games played to put the team score at 3-1. While newly nationally ranked sophomores Stefan Hardy (#75) and Chris Kearney (#66) didn't finish their singles matches as the team match had already been decided, their stellar play ensured that VCU didn't finish the match with any leads in singles, as Hardy was tied with his opponent 4-6, 7-6(8) and Kearney was ahead 3-6, 7-6(2), 4-2.

Yellow Jackets Top South Carolina, 5-2

ATLANTA - Georgia Tech swept three doubles matches and freshmen Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith won three-set singles matches to lift the No. 38 Yellow Jackets over No. 60 South Carolina Sunday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.

"We've had a lot of close matches in the past with South Carolina and we knew that it would be a tough match," head coach Kenny Thorne said. "We played well in doubles and came out of the locker room with momentum entering singles. We maintained that momentum, but didn't close out a couple of second sets, which can come back to haunt you sometimes."

Potvin rallied in the third set of his singles match against Johannes Pulsfort for a 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 victory, helping Georgia Tech (7-1) clinch a win over the visiting Gamecocks. Smith, after splitting the first two sets with USC's Jaime Cullar, won the third set 6-2.

Yellow Jacket freshman Guillermo Gomez made quick work of Yevgeny Supeko at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-1. David North gave the Yellow Jackets a 3-0 lead when he won at No. 2 singles over Diego Cubas, 7-5, 6-3.

No. 31 M. Tennis Bounces No. 39 ODU on the Road, 5-2

RICHMOND, Va. - The No. 31 NC State men's tennis team defeated No. 39 Old Dominion on the road on Sunday to improve to 5-3 on the season and conclude a three-match road swing. NC State took the doubles point and four of the six singles matches in the win.

Nick Cavaday and Jay Weinacker, ranked No. 9 nationally by the ITA in doubles, won at the top spot, 8-2, to open play and improve to 4-1 this spring.

After David Chermak and Derek Stephens fell at No. 3 doubles, 8-4, to square of the doubles standings, it fell to the rackets of James McGee and Christian Welte at No. 2. The duo defeated the nation's No. 50 combo in Fanselow and Souza, 8-4, to secure the doubles point and a 1-0 lead in the match.