Men's Tennis Rallies for 4-3 Win at Wake Forest
April 5, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C... – The No. 31 University of Miami men’s tennis win won four-straight singles matches to rally from a 3-0 deficit and knock off No. 28 Wake Forest, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at Leighton Stadium.
With their fourth-straight ACC road win, the Hurricanes (11-7, 7-2 ACC) snapped Wake Forests’ own four-match win streak to take sole possession of second place in the league standings with two conference matches remaining in the regular season. The Demon Deacons (16-7, 6-2) dropped just their second home match of the season.
“I’m so proud of our guys for believing in each other and playing together,” said Miami head coach Mario Rincon. “Somehow we won that match today after trailing 3-0 and being down a set. We didn’t have a chance in doubles and their No. 2 and No. 3 singles players just played flawless tennis. But our guys kept on fighting and all of a sudden we were right back in the match.”
Wake Forest got off to a strong start, winning all three doubles matches to go up 1-0. The Demon Deacons then claimed a pair of straight-sets wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions to take the 3-0 advantage.
But Miami finally got on the board as No. 15 Daniel Vallverdu cruised to his fifth-straight win in the top flight, upending No. 21 Cory Parr, 6-1, 6-4.
No. 120 Carl Sundberg moved the Hurricanes within one point, trailing 3-2, with a 6-1, 6-3 win at the No. 4 position, and then Keith Crowley tied the match at 3-3 with his fourth-straight singles victory – a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 5.
With the match on the line, freshman Ignacio Taboada battled back for the 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 win at No. 6 to complete the Hurricane comeback and clinch the 4-3 win. It was Miami’s fifth one-point victory of the season.
The Hurricanes return to South Florida for their final two regular-season matches. On Friday, April 10, UM heads to the Arthur Ashe/Butch Bucholtz Courts at Moore Park (765 NW 36th St., Miami) to play host to Boston College at 3 p.m. The Hurricanes return to the Neil Schiff Tennis Center to close the regular season at home versus Maryland on Sunday, April 12, at 1 p.m. Admission is free.
No. 31 Miami 4, No. 28 Wake Forest 3
Singles
1. #15 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. #21 Cory Parr (WF) 6-1, 6-4
2. Steve Forman (WF) def. David Rosenfeld (UM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Jonathan Wolff (WF) def. Christian Blocker (UM) 6-0, 6-1
4. #120 Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Iain Atkinson (WF) 6-1, 6-3
5. Keith Crowley (UM) def. David Hopkins (WF) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
6. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Jason Morgenstern (WF) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6*
Doubles
1. #1 Cory Parr/Steve Forman (WF) def. #61 David Rosenfeld/Daniel Vallverdu (UM) 8-4
2. Keith Crowley/Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Iain Atkinson/Carlos Salmon (WF) 8-2
3. Jonathan Wolff/David Hopkins (WF) def. Christian Blocker/David Simon (UM) 8-5
Order of Finish: 2, 1*, 3
