Men's Tennis Wins NCAA Regional
May 13, 2001
Coral Gables, FL – The 12th-ranked University of Miami men’s tennis team (21-3) knocked off 46th-ranked Minnesota (13-12), 4-1, Sunday afternoon to win the NCAA Regional Tennis Championship and advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1994.
Junior Jose Lieberman (Los Angeles, CA) sealed the win with a thrilling 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 win over Chris Wettengel at No. 5 singles.
“I am extremely excited for our team,” said head coach Jay Berger, who reaches the Sweet Sixteen in just his fourth season at UM. “Our guys have worked so hard this year to get to this point that it would have been very disappointing not to go to Athens.”
The NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen will be held May 19-22 in Athens, GA. Miami will face either Duke or Auburn.
Miami, who’s 21 wins this season are the most since 1990, got off to a good start taking two of the three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Miami’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Tomas Smid (Czech Republic) and Peter Hoffman (Gulliver Prep) clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 upset victory over the nation’s 29th-ranked doubles team of Harsh Mankad and Jorge Duenas.
Miami jumped out to a 3-0 team lead after Andrew Golub (Miami Columbus) and Peter Hoffman recorded straight set wins at No. 6 and No. 4 singles respectively. Golub defated Eric Robertson 6-2, 6-2 while Hoffman downed Aleksey Zharinov 6-4, 6-1.
Minnesota’s lone win came at No. 2 singles where Jorge Duenas defeated Tomas Smid, 6-2, 6-3 to set the stage for Lieberman. Lieberman’s match clinching victory was the second in as many days for the junior who also clinched UM’s win over Charleston Southern on Saturday.
Miami 4, Minnesota 1
Singles
1. #46 Michael Lang (UM) vs #44 Harsh Mankad (Minn.) DNF
2. Jorge Duenas (Minn.) def. Tomas Smid (UM) 6-2, 6-3
3. Johan Lindqvist (UM) vs Jon Svensson (Minn.) DNF
4. Peter Hoffman (UM) def. Alekesy Zharinov (Minn.) 6-4, 6-1
5. Jose Lieberman (UM) def. Chris Wettengel (Minn.) 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 *clinched win
6. Andrew Golub (UM) def. Eric Robertson (Minn.) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. #46 Hoffman/Smid (UM) def. #29 Mankad/Duenas (Minn.) 8-5
2. Svensson/Tyson Parry (Minn.) def. Lang/Lieberman (UM) 8-3
3. Lindqvist/Golub (UM) def. Robertson/Wettengel 8-6
