Men's Tennis Downs NC State, 4-3
April 3, 2009
RALEIGH, N.C... – Keith Crowley clinched the match winner for the No. 31 University of Miami men’s tennis team as the Hurricanes won their third-straight ACC road match, knocking off No. 48 NC State, 4-3, on the road in Raleigh on Friday afternoon.
The Hurricanes won their fourth conference match in their last five opportunities to improve to 10-7 overall and 6-2 in the ACC, while the Wolfpack fell to 9-12 overall and 3-6 in conference play.
“We won a tough ACC match on the road under difficult conditions,” said Miami head coach Mario Rincon. “NC State is a solid team that I think should be ranked much higher. They competed really hard in every spot, but we were fortunate to win the doubles point.
“Our team competed hard, but I still feel like we haven’t played our best tennis yet.”
The Hurricanes claimed the ever-important opening doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. The nation’s 61st-ranked tandem of seniors Daniel Vallverdu and David Rosenfeld cruised past NC State’s Christian Welte and Julian Sullivan, 8-4, while at No. 3, Christian Blocker and David Simon improved to 6-2 in conference play with a 9-7 victory to clinch the doubles point for the Hurricanes.
Miami and NC State traded points in singles play, with All-American and 15th-ranked Vallverdu taking the win in top-flight singles play in straight sets, as well as No. 120 Carl Sundberg at No. 5.
With the match knotted at 3-all, Crowley battled to the 6-2, 7-6 victory at No. 6 to clinch the ACC win for Miami.
The Hurricanes remain on the road for their next ACC match, heading to Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest on Sun., April 5, at noon.
No. 31 Miami 4, No. 48 NC State 3
Singles
1. #15 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. #36 Jay Weinacker (ST), 6-4, 6-2
2. #118 Christian Welte (ST) def. David Rosenfeld (UM), 7-6, 3-6, 6-4
3. Derek Stephens (ST) def. Christian Blocker (UM), 7-6, 7-5
4. Jaime Pulgar (ST) def. David Simon (UM), 6-1, 7-6
5. #120 Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Julian Sullivan (ST), 6-4, 6-4
6. Keith Crowley (UM) def. David Chermak (ST), 6-2, 7-6
Order of Finish; 4, 1, 3, 5, 2, 6*
Doubles
1. #61 Daniel Vallverdu/David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Christian Welte/Julian Sullivan (ST) 8-4
2. Jay Weinacker/Jaime Pulgar (ST) def. Keith Crowley/Carl Sundberg (UM) 8-6
3. Christian Blocker/David Simon (UM) def. Justin Jendruch/Rob Lowe (ST) 9-7
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
