April 17, 2009
CARY, N.C... – The second-seeded University of Miami men’s tennis team edged 10th-seeded NC State, 4-3, in the ACC Championship quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
The No. 25 Hurricanes (14-7) won their sixth-straight match and knocked off the 54th-ranked Wolfpack for the second time this season to advance to Saturday’s semifinals versus third-seeded Wake Forest. Upset-minded NC State (10-15) downed seventh-seeded Georgia Tech in Thursday’s opening round, 4-1, to earn the berth to today’s quarterfinal round.
Miami’s 50th-ranked tandem of seniors Daniel Vallverdu and David Rosenfeld posted a dominant 8-2 win at No. 1 and sophomores Keith Crowley and Carl Sundberg notched the 8-5 win at No. 3 to claim the doubles point for the Hurricanes, giving them the early 1-0 advantage.
The teams then battled in singles competition, with NC State winning four of the six first sets.
Freshman Ignacio Taboada‘s 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 6 was crucial in keeping Miami’s chances alive as the Hurricanes trailed 3-2 with two singles matches entering the third set. Taboada improved to 21-11 with his fifth-straight victory.
Vallverdu then knotted the match at 3-all for Miami with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over No. 37 Jay Weinacker at the No. 1position. It was the eighth-straight win for Miami’s 13th-ranked All-American who moved to 17-4 with the victory and remains in fourth place in UM program history with 89 career wins.
With his sixth-straight singles victory, Crowley clinched Miami’s sixth-straight match with a tough 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over NC State’s Julian Sullivan at the No. 5 position. It was the team-high tying 21st win of the season for the sophomore and he improved to 21-7.
“Our guys pulled together for a great win today against a resilient NC State team,” said head Miami coach Mario Rincon. “The doubles point proved crucial for us. Ignacio gave us a huge lift, and then Dani’s win set the stage for Keith’s clinching match. It was a great challenge for the guys, and we are looking forward to our semifinal match tomorrow.”
The Hurricanes, who had a first-round bye on Thursday courtesy of their top-four seeding, now advance to Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinals versus the Demon Deacons, who UM defeated 4-3 earlier this season. The semifinals will be streamed online on demand at www.ACCselect.com after 6 p.m. The winner of Saturday’s semifinals advances to Sunday’s 11 a.m. championship match.
No. 25 Miami 4, No. 54 NC State 3
Singles
1. No. 13 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. No. 37 Jay Weinacker (NCS) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
2. Chistian Welte (NCS) def. David Rosenfeld (NCS) 7-5, 6-4
3. Derek Stephens (NCS) def. No. 113 Carl Sundberg (UM) 6-2, 6-3
4. Jaime Pulgar (NCS) def. Christian Blocker (UM) 6-2, 6-0
5. Keith Crowley (UM) def. Julian Sullivan (NCS) 1-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. David Chermak (NCS) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
1. No. 50 Vallverdu/Rosenfeld (UM) def. No. 74 Welte/Sullivan (NCS) 8-2
2. Weinacker/Pulgar (NCS) def. Simon/Blocker (UM) 8-2
3. Crowley/Sundberg (UM) def. Lowe/Chermak (ST) 8-5