Men's Tennis Closes Regular Season on the Road
April 12, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The 33rd-ranked University of Miami men’s tennis team closes its 2007 regular-season schedule with a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference matches on the road this weekend. The Hurricanes open competition on Friday, April 13, at No. 11 Wake Forest at 5 p.m., and then head to No. 24 North Carolina State for the regular-season finale on Sunday, April 15, at 1 p.m.
The Hurricanes (10-10, 5-4 ACC) come off Sunday’s 4-3 win over then-No. 30 Virginia Tech, and look to end the regular season on a high note. Entering the weekend, Miami has knocked off six ranked opponents – including No. 17 Rice and No. 24 Clemson. The Hurricanes have won two straight over the Demon Deacons and lead the all-time series 8-2, and are undefeated versus the Wolfpack, with the 8-0 all-time series advantage.
However, both Wake Forest (19-4, 6-3 ACC) and NC State (19-7, 4-5 ACC) have put together impressive campaigns in 2006-07. The Demon Deacons tied the program record for most wins with 19, while the Pack has posted the most conference victories since 1981. And with ACC Tournament play just one week away, the teams are vying for position.
The Hurricanes are led by No. 20 senior Luigi D’Agord (21-3, 9-0 ACC), who is undefeated in ACC singles matches over his two-year Miami career, and No. 55 sophomore Daniel Vallverdu (21-8, 3-3 ACC), who has clinched a pair of game-winning points over the last month – including in Sunday’s win over the Hokies.
Senior Josh Cohen (17-11, 5-4 ACC), as well as D’Agord, enters his final weekend of regular-season competition for the `Canes, and with a 20-5 doubles record this season has compiled 80 doubles wins for his career and is just one short of the school record of 81 set by John Eagleton (1974-77) 30 years ago. Paired with D’Agord, the nation’s 8th-ranked tandem has gone 19-4 this year, including an 8-1 mark in ACC play. In singles competition, Cohen has recorded 88 wins – which ranks third best in program history, and with a combined 168 wins in his Miami career, Cohen is the winningest Hurricane ever.
With two league matches remaining for each ACC team heading into the final weekend of the regular season, anything can happen in the tight race. No. 2 Virginia is in first place with an undefeated 9-0 conference record, followed by No. 5 North Carolina in second place at 8-1 – due to Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to No. 16 Duke. The Cavaliers and Tar Heels meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Charlottesville.
The Blue Devils have a tenuous hold on third place at 7-2, but are trailed closely by Wake Forest in fourth at 6-3 and Miami in fifth at 5-4. NC State, No. 25 Florida State and No. 20 Clemson are locked in a three-way tie for sixth place at 4-5, followed by 38th-ranked Virginia Tech in ninth at 3-6. No. 57 Maryland (2-7), No. 52 Georgia Tech (2-7) and the ACC’s only unranked team Boston College (0-9) make up the bottom three. However, both the Terrapins and Eagles can hope to make the most of any home court advantage as they host their final pair of matches.
The ACC’s top four seeds receive first-round byes in the 2007 ACC Men’s Tennis Championships, to be held Thursday, April 19, through Sunday, April 22 at the Cary Tennis Center in Cary, N.C.
