Feb. 1, 2008
Columbus, Ohio – The No. 36 University of Miami men’s tennis team dropped its first match of the spring season, falling to No. 3 Ohio State, 5-2, at the OSU Varsity Tennis Courts in Columbus this evening.
The Buckeyes (4-0) got off to a strong start, sweeping all three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead. Ohio State’s top-two doubles teams handed Miami’s 18th ranked duo of Vivek Subramanian and David Rosenfeld its first loss at No. 2 and UM’s 30th ranked pair of All-American Daniel Vallverdu and Carl Sundberg its first loss at No. 1.
The Buckeyes extended their lead to a match-clinching 4-0, with straight-sets singles wins at the No. 3, 2 and 6 positions.
Miami (3-1) finally got on the scoreboard as Vallverdu, ranked seventh in the nation in singles play, knocked off Ohio State’s No. 85 Bryan Koniecko, 6-2, 7-6, to improve to 4-0 in dual matches. The Hurricanes added a second point, as Subramanian battled back to defeat Shuhei Uzawa in the No. 4 spot, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
“We didn’t play well in doubles today,” said head Miami coach Mario Rincon. “That got us behind early, and Ohio State is a deep team with a lot of ranked players which makes it very difficult for anyone to make up those points.
“But Danny [Vallverdu] was impressive in singles competition, beating one of the best college players today, and Vivek [Subramanian] showed a lot of poise in coming back from being down a set and a break. Keith’s [Crawley] game is coming around, and I believe he will be a force soon.”
The Hurricanes look to bounce back on Sunday, Feb. 3, at No. 48 Kentucky. Competition begins at noon.
No. 3 Ohio State 5, No. 36 Miami 2
Singles
1. No. 7 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. No. 85 Bryan Koniecko (OSU), 6-2, 7-6
2. No. 6 Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. No. 98 David Rosenfeld (UM), 6-4, 6-2
3. No. 60 Steven Moneke (OSU) def. Carl Sundberg (UM), 6-4, 6-1
4. Vivek Subramanian (UM) def. Shuhei Uzawa (OSU), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
5. No. 95 Drew Eberly (OSU) def. Keith Crawley (UM), 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
6. Matt Allare (OSU) def. JC Whitner (UM), 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 6*, 1, 4, 5
Doubles
1. Matt Allare/Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. No. 30 Daniel Vallverdu/Carl Sundberg (UM), 8-6
2. Steven Moneke/Bryan Koniecko (OSU) No. 18 Vivek Subramanian/David Rosenfeld (UM), 8-4
3. Drew Eberly/Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Keith Crowley/Hector Nieto (UM), 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2*, 1