May 9, 2009

Seminole Seniors Send Florida State To Round Of 16 With 4-1 Win Against Auburn

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- The 16th-ranked Florida State men's tennis team advanced to the round of 16 for the second consecutive season with a 4-1 victory against No. 19 Auburn at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center. The Seminoles (21-8) gained the momentum with a surprising comeback on court three in doubles.

"I knew Auburn was a strong team and we had a tough draw," FSU head coach Dwayne Hultquist said. "We really came out prepared and everyone played well and contributed."

Things looked dire for the Seminoles in doubles. The 20th-ranked juniors Jean-Yves Aubone and Vahid Mirzadeh were defeated by 10th-ranked Alexey Tsyenov and Alex Puetz 8-2. FSU evened doubles with a 8-5 win by seniors Maciek Sykut and Drew Bailey against Lukas Marsoun and Alex Stamchev on court two. However, it still look as if the Tigers would win doubles with Milan Krnjetin and Michel Monteiro up 7-3 on senior Chris Cloer and sophomore Clint Bowles on court three. Cloer and Bowles were able to come back and win the next six games of the set, including saving a match point at 7-6 to clinch the doubles point for FSU.

Cavaliers Earn Sixth Consecutive Trip to NCAA Round of 16

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The No. 1 Virginia men's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the sixth consecutive season with a 4-0 win over North Carolina in a second round match Saturday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (31-0) will meet another ACC rival, Florida State, in the round of 16 on Thursday in College Station, Texas.

"Anytime you play a team three times in a season that is as good as North Carolina, it is never easy and I am proud of the way that we played," said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. "We have a lot of respect for UNC. They always have good teams and this year was no different. But we just keep getting better with each match."

The Cavaliers took the 1-0 lead by winning a close doubles point. The Tar Heels (17-11) gained an early advantage as No. 17 Taylor Fogleman and Clay Donato topped No. 12 Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) 8-3 at the top position. Virginia drew even as Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) defeated Brennan Boyajian and Zach Hunter 8-5 at No. 3 doubles. No. 13 Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) and Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) clinched the opening point with their 8-5 win over Andrew Crone and Alex Raifee at No. 2 doubles. The win was Singh and Barrick's 39th win of the season, setting a new school record for doubles win in a year by a team, breaking the mark of 38 set by Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey last season.

Men's Tennis Advances to Sweet 16 with 4-2 Upset over Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. - For second time in three years the 18th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team is headed to the NCAA Sweet 16 following a 4-2 upset over No. 11 Kentucky on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Ky.

Wake Forest will face the winner of No. 6 Baylor and No. 30 Tulsa, which will wrap up Saturday evening at University of Tulsa. The remaining tournament matches will be played at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, starting with the Sweet 16 on May 14.

The Deacons are now 22-9, just one win behind the program's highest 23-win season, set in 2007 - the last time Wake Forest advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Deacons dropped the doubles point, but were able to successfully fight through the deficit.

"I couldn't be more proud of the team, the way they fought after not winning the doubles point in front of a hostile SEC crowd," Wake Forest head coach Jeff Zinn said.

Steven Forman fell behind early at No. 2 singles to Brad Cox, but recovered to take a 7-5 win in the first set and 6-3 win in the second to knot the match score at 1-all. The ever-reliable Cory Parr followed with a 6-3, 6-4 upset over sixth-ranked Bruno Antonelli to push the Deacons in front 2-1.

Jason Morgenstern laid down a crucial 7-5, 6-3 victory over Alberto Gonazalez at No. 6 to put Wake Forest within one point of the win. Then things slowed down and the suspense began to build.

Tennessee Ousts Duke In NCAA Second Round

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Blue Devils' 2009 season came to an end on Saturday as they fell to No. 5 Tennessee, 4-1, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

"It was a tight match that was certainly closer than the final score," said head coach Ramsey Smith. "We played well in doubles and had our chances to take that point. We fought hard and had our chances against the No. 5 team in the country. I am proud of our guys even though we didn't come out on top tonight."

For the second straight day heavy rains delayed Duke's match. The start of the contest was pushed back nearly two hours and towards the end of doubles there was a 30-minute delay before the match was moved indoors.

Duke, having lost the No. 1 doubles match, was leading at No. 3 doubles and tied 6-6 at No. 2 when the second delay came. Reid Carleton and Torsten Wietoska went on to win the No. 3 contest 8-6. The delay favored the Vols at No. 2 as Boris Conkic and Matteo Fago took two straight games to clinch the doubles point for Tennessee.

No. 4 Bulldogs eliminate Hokies, 4-1

ATHENS, Ga. - Two-time defending national champion Georgia proved too tough for valiant Virginia Tech team Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs eliminated the Hokies, 4-1, in the NCAA Second Round. The Athens, Ga., regional was played at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus. Tech concludes the year with a 15-8 record while No. 4 Georgia improved to 24-3 with its' 62nd consecutive home court victory. The Bulldogs advance to the NCAA Round of 16 next week in College Station, Texas.

The Hokies, ranked No. 26 nationally and making their third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, dropped both of the completed doubles contests to open the match and lost three of the four completed singles matches in the loss.

Georgia took a 2-0 lead as Pedro Graber (Jr., Santiago, Chile) lost, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3 to 75th-ranked Jamie Hunt and the Bulldogs increased the advantage when 12th-ranked Nate Schnugg, on his fifth match point, finally defeated No. 55 Yoann Re (Jr., Verdun, Quebec, Canada), 7-5, 6-4, in the No. 1 contest.

Men's Tennis Rallies to Upset Florida in NCAA Regional Final

GAINESVILLE, FLA... - The No. 22 University of Miami men's tennis team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to knock off No. 10 Florida, 4-3, to win the Gainesville Regional in the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships at UF's Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex on Saturday.

The Hurricanes (16-8) now advance to the NCAA's Round of 16 for the second time in four years to square off versus No. 7 UCLA (19-4), who defeated Hawaii, 4-0, in its regional final in Los Angeles today.

"I can't say enough about our team and our seniors," said head Miami coach Mario Rincon who has led the Hurricanes to four-straight NCAA appearances. "It was an incredible accomplishment for us to beat Florida at their place in front of a huge crowd. It was a great college match - every point was disputed and it was so close. We have had our battles with UF - and we haven't always come out on top, so it was a huge victory for this program. I'm proud of our coaches, our players, fans and everyone associated with this University of Miami tennis program.

"Our guys never gave up and kept fighting. It was over 90 degrees today, but our guys are in such awesome shape and that was an important factor in the end. As the match progressed, they were able to take control of the situation and use their conditioning to their advantage."