Men's Tennis Upends Georgia Tech In Third-Straight Win
March 20, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – Senior Luigi D’Agord (Freeport, Bahamas) fought back a late Georgia Tech rally to claim his third-straight win at No. 1 singles and clinch the match for the No. 37 University of Miami men’s tennis team, as the Hurricanes went on to topple the 42nd-ranked Yellow Jackets, 7-0, on Tuesday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
It marked Miami’s third straight victory over a ranked opponent, as the Hurricanes – who jumped from 73 to 37 in today’s FILA Poll after a pair of wins over top-25 opponents last weekend – improved to 7-7 overall and 2-1 in ACC play. Conversely, the Yellow Jackets dropped their third-straight match – and first in ACC play – to fall to 5-8 on the year and 2-1 in the league.
Freshman J.C. Whitner (Bradenton, Fla./Pendleton) added to Tuesday’s highlights as he picked up his first ACC wins in both No. 5 singles and in No. 3 doubles with fellow newcomer Hector Nieto (Key Biscayne, Fla./Coral Gables).
“With our freshmen winning in both singles and doubles today – I think it will be great for their confidence,” said third year head coach Mario Rincon. “They continue to get better every week, as does our team.”
“I’m extremely proud of our entire team, from the upperclassmen to the freshmen,” added assistant coach C.J. Weber. “This is our first 7-0 victory of the year – which means everybody on this team got it done. I feel like I’m coaching a whole new team.”
The Hurricanes stormed out to the 1-0 lead after sweeping all three doubles matches. The No.3 freshmen doubles tandem of Whitner and Nieto dominated in their first ACC win, 8-1, while the 12th-ranked top-flight doubles duo of D’Agord and senior Josh Cohen (Weston, Fla./Laurel Springs), finished up just behind them, 8-2, to remain undefeated in ACC play and improve to a team-best 14-3 overall. The No. 2 pair of sophomore Daniel Vallverdu (Valencia, Venezuela) and junior Vivek Subramanian (East Brunswick, N.J.) completed the sweep with an 8-5 victory to pick up their 10th win of the year.
Vallverdu, the nation’s 37th ranked player, and Subramanian used straight sets to defeat their opponents in singles play at No. 2 and 4, respectively, and push Miami to the early 3-0 lead. At No. 1, the 26th-ranked D’Agord cruised to a 6-0 first set win, but Georgia Tech’s Jose Muguruza rallied to force a third set, which D’Agord won for the `Canes’ match-clinching fourth point of the day.
Cohen, Whitner and Nieto all pulled out wins for the Hurricanes in their first 7-0 win of the season.
“I think Vivek [Subramanian] played a great match today. He was calm and had a great game plan coming into the match,” said Rincon. “And in these last three matches… The guys played really well to get the important points and come out on top.”
The Miami men’s tennis squad returns to ACC competition with a pair of matches at home this weekend. The Hurricanes will host No. 45 Maryland (10-2, 2-1 ACC) on Saturday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m. and Boston College (4-10, 0-3 ACC) on Sunday, March 25, at 11 a.m. Admission to all regular season matches at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center is free.
Miami 7, Georgia Tech 0
Singles
1. No. 26 Luigi D’Agord (UM) def. Jose Muguruza (GT), 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
2. No. 37 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. Jordan DeLass (GT), 6-2, 6-2
3. No. 159 Josh Cohen (UM) def. Eric Molnar (GT), 6-7, 6-2, 10-6
4. Vivek Subramanian (UM) def. Luke Rassow-Kantor (GT), 6-3, 7-5
5. J.C. Whitner (UM) def. Zach Rath (GT), 6-3, 7-6
6. Hector Nieto (UM) def. Scott Blackmon (GT), 6-4, 3-6, 10-8
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1*, 3, 6, 5
Doubles
1. No. 12 Cohen/D’Agord (UM) def. Rassow-Kantor/Molnar (GT), 8-2
2. Vallverdu/Subramanian (UM) def. Muguruza/Blackmon (GT), 8-5
3. Nieto/Whitner (UM) def. DeLass/Gvelesiani (GT), 8-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1*, 2
