Men's Tennis To Face Notre Dame In BIG EAST Title Match
April 20, 2002
CORAL GABLES, Fla.– The No. 3-seeded University of Miami men’s tennis team upset No. 2 Virginia Tech, 4-3, Saturday to advance to its 10th consecutive BIG EAST Championship final.
The Hurricanes’ (12-8), who have won seven BIG EAST titles since joining the league in 1991, will face Notre Dame for the 2002 BIG EAST Championship starting Sunday at Noon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables. Admission is free.
Miami defeated Notre Dame, 4-2 last season to win the title in 2001.
Top-seeded Notre Dame defeated 5th-seeded Rutgers, 4-0, to advance to Sunday’s final.
The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish have played for the BIG EAST title in each of the last six seasons with Miami winning four times.
Senior Tomas Smid clinched the 4-3 upset over the Hokies. Smid lost the first set 6-3 to Francis Huot before fighting back to win the next two sets, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7).
Miami won the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
The match would soon be tied two-all as UM’s Tarik El Bassiouni beat Michael Kurz in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. VT won the next two matches at No. 3 and No. 5 singles.
With the match tied two-all freshman Todd Widom lost a heartbreaker to Saber Kadiri, 7-5, 7-5, in his first loss at home this season.
The Hurricanes needed wins on the two remaining courts to secure the spot in the Championship match on Sunday.
Seniors Jose Lieberman and Tomas Smid both fought and won both of their matches in three sets.
Lieberman was the first to win, beating Davor Dupljak, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6), at No. 4 singles. Smid clinched the win for Miami.
Men’s Match No. 4 – No. 3 Miami def. No. 2 Virginia Tech – 4-3
Doubles
No. 1 Todd Widom/Tomas Smid (UM) def. Saber Kadiri/Francis Huot (VT) 8-3
No. 2 Joel Berman/Tarik El Bassiouni (UM) vs. Andreas Laulund/Stephane Rod (VT) DNF
No. 3 Andrew Golub/Jose Lieberman (UM) def. Davor Dupljak/Michael Kurz (VT) 8-6
Singles
No. 1 Saber Kadiri (VT) def. Todd Widom (UM) 7-5, 7-5
No. 2 *Tomas Smid (UM) def. Francis Huot (VT) 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7)
No. 3 Stephane Rod (VT) def. Andrew Golub (UM) 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 Jose Lieberman (UM) def. Davor Dupljak (VT) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6)
No. 5 Andreas Laulund (VT) def. Joel Berman (UM) 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Tarik El Bassiouni (UM) def. Michael Kurz (VT) 6-4, 6-2
*Clinched Match
