Men's Tennis Downs Georgia Tech for Second ACC Win
March 7, 2009
Coral Gables, Fla… – The No. 51 University of Miami men’s tennis team won the doubles point and three-straight singles matches en route to the 5-2 win over visiting Georgia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference play at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Hurricanes snapped a two-game skid to improve to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while the Yellow Jackets fell to 5-5 for the season and 1-1 in the ACC.
Miami’s All-American doubles tandem of Daniel Vallverdu and Carl Sundberg – who entered fall competition as the nation’s top-ranked duo – picked up their first win of the spring, knocking off Georgia Tech’s Guillermo Gomez and Ryan Smith, 8-5, at the top-flight position.
With the doubles point on the line, UM’s Keith Crowley and David Simon grabbed the 8-5 win at No. 3 to give the Hurricanes the early 1-0 lead.
Simon continued his strong play in singles competition, racing to the 6-3, 6-3 straight-sets win over Doug Kenny at No. 6 to extend Miami’s lead to 2-0 and improve to 2-1 in ACC play. David Rosenfeld added the third point for the Hurricanes with his second ACC win, knocking off Kevin King, 6-2, 6-4, at the No. 3 position.
Christian Blocker clinched the match for the Hurricanes with Miami’s third-straight singles win. He pushed UM’s lead to an insurmountable 4-0 with the 6-4, 6-1 victory over Eliot Potvin, as the sophomore improved to 3-0 in ACC play and 2-0 at No. 2.
Sundberg picked up Miami’s fifth point with a come-from-behind 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 5 to remain undefeated in dual-match play at 8-0 – including a perfect 3-0 mark in league competition.
“Today was a really hard-fought match on both sides,” said Miami assistant coach C.J. Weber. “Winning the doubles point was huge for our guys because that hasn’t been a strong point for us this year, so anytime we can win that point it’s definitely a confidence builder for that match.
“I was really impressed with Carl [Sundberg] today. He just stayed so mentally tough. They were plenty of times in the match when he could have just faded away and given up, but he just stayed focus on the present. He lost the first set and came back and won the second set. He got down three-love with two breaks in the third set and was still just mentally there. That kind of mental toughness is the reason he is undefeated right now. It’s great having a solid point out of him each time.
“David Simon did really well at No. 6. Overall our team’s energy and our fight was good today.”
The Hurricanes hit the road for a pair of non-conference matches next weekend, taking on USF on Sat., March 13 and UCF on Sun., March 14.
No. 51 Miami 5, No. 58 Georgia Tech 2 Singles
1. #11 Guillermo Gomez (GT) def. #27 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) 7-6, 6-1
2. Christian Blocker (UM) def. Eliot Potvin (GT) 6-4, 6-1
3. David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Kevin King (GT) 6-2, 6-4
4. Miguel Muguruza (GT) def. Ignacio Taboada (UM) 6-7, 6-2, 10-3
5. #87 Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Dusan Miljevic (GT) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
6. David Simon (UM) def. Doug Kenny (GT) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Daniel Vallverdu/Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Guillermo Gomez/Ryan Smith (GT) 8-5
2. Kevin King/Doug Kenny (GT) def. Christian Blocker/David Rosenfeld (UM) 8-4
3. Keith Crowley/David Simon (UM) def. Austin Roebuck/Miguel Muguruza (GT) 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1, 3*); Singles (6, 3, 2*, 1, 4, 5)
