No. 25 Men's Tennis Falls to No. 20 Wake Forest
April 18, 2009
CARY, N.C... – The second-seeded University of Miami men’s tennis team fell to third-seeded Wake Forest, 4-2, in Saturday’s semifinal round to bow out of the 2009 ACC Championship at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
The 20th-ranked Demon Deacons (20-8) managed to avenge the No. 25 Hurricanes’ (14-8) comeback win earlier this month in Winston-Salem to advance to Sunday’s final versus top-seeded Virginia, who vies for its third-straight ACC crown after defeating fourth-seeded Florida State, 4-0, on Saturday.
Wake Forest sailed to strong wins at No. 1 and 2 in doubles play to clinch the opening point.
Miami battled back in singles competition as sophomore Keith Crowley and freshman Ignacio Taboada each notched their team-leading 22nd win of the season with straight sets victories at the No. 4 and 5 positions, respectively. Crowley extended his singles winning streak to seven-straight matches, while Taboada won his sixth consecutive.
But the Hurricanes would not get any more points on the board, as Miami dropped tough matches in three sets at No. 1, 2 and 6 to close its ACC run.
“Wake Forest outplayed us in doubles today. We got back in the match winning first sets on four courts, and were up breaks in a couple of third sets,” said head coach Mario Rincon. “We had chances to win the match, but we didn’t win a few key games down the stretch.
“We are looking forward to NCAA Regionals and will begin getting ready as soon as we get back to Coral Gables.”
Miami now awaits the NCAA Tennis Selection Show broadcast on ESPNEWS on Tues., April 28, around 5:20 p.m. to learn its postseason fate. All 64 teams for each the men’s and women’s tournaments, as well as first- and second-round sites will be announced. The Hurricanes have competed in the NCAA Tournament for the last three-straight seasons, including a trip to the Round of 16 in 2006.
No. 20 Wake Forest 4, No. 25 Miami 2
Singles
1. #12 Cory Parr (WF) def. #13 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) 6-7, 6-1, 6-2
2. Steve Forman (WF) def. David Rosenfeld (UM) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
3. #113 Carl Sundberg (UM) vs. Jonathan Wolff (WF) unfinished
4. Keith Crowley (UM) def. David Hopkins (WF) 6-3, 6-0
5. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Iain Atkinson (WF) 6-3, 6-3
6. Jason Morgenstern (WF) def. David Simon (UM) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. #11 Cory Parr/Steve Forman (WF) def. #50 Daniel Vallverdu/David Rosenfeld (UM) 8-0
2. Iain Atkinson/Carlos Salmon (WF) def. David Simon/Christian Blocker (UM) 8-4
3. Jonathan Wolff/David Hopkins (WF) vs. Keith Crowley/Carl Sundberg (UM) unfinished
