Hurricanes Topple Wolfpack in ACC Men's Tennis Tournament
April 22, 2010
Coral Gables, Fla. – The 41st-ranked and eighth-seeded University of Miami men’s tennis team downed 51st-ranked and ninth-seeded NC State, 4-1, in the opening round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on Thursday morning at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.
It marked the fifth-straight win for the Hurricanes (11-10) who advance to Friday’s quarterfinals to square off versus top-ranked Virginia (32-1, 11-0), who has won three-straight – and five of the last six – ACC titles, at 9 a.m.
“It was huge for us to get the doubles point,” said head Miami coach Mario Rincon. “We came out firing on court two – getting the break early. And that set the tone on courts one and three. NC State has a lot of fight and intensity, but we were able to match that.”
The Hurricanes jumped out to the 1-0 lead, earning the doubles point with the 8-5 win by All-American Carl Sundberg and Ignacio Taboada at No. 3 and the 8-6 decision at No. 2 by Keith Crowley and Hector Nieto. Sundberg and Taboada had gone undefeated at 3-0 versus ACC teams during the regular season and improved to 6-3 with today’s victory, while Crowley and Nieto – who have been ranked as high as 53rd in the nation this season – won their 12th match of the season to move to 12-7.
Miami carried its energy over into singles play, as 122nd-ranked Christian Blöcker – who has won four of his last five matches – cruised to the 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 2 over NC State’s Dominic Hodgson, to improve to 17-13 on the season and extend Miami’s lead to 2-0.
However, the Wolfpack (15-12) came firing back, closing their deficit to one point with David Thomson’s win at No. 3.
But Keith Crowley and Ignacio Taboada disposed of their opponents in straight sets – at No. 5 and 6, respectively – to clinch the eighth ACC Tournament victory for the Hurricanes under Rincon, as Miami advances to the quarterfinals for the sixth-straight season since joining the ACC.
“I’m proud of the way our guys have stepped up their play in the last part of our season,” said Rincon. “We look forward to playing UVA tomorrow.”
No. 41 Miami 4, No. 51 NC State 1
Singles
1. #67 Jaime Pulgar (ST) vs. Carl Sundberg (UM), DNF
2. #122 Christian Blocker (UM) def. Dominic Hodgson (ST) 6-3, 6-0
3. Dave Thomson (ST) def. David Simon (UM) 6-2, 6-4
4. Rafael Paez (ST) vs. Waylon Chin (UM), DNF
5. Keith Crowley (UM) def. Akash Gujarati (ST) 6-1, 6-3
6. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Frideric Prandecki (ST) 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 5, 6*
Doubles
1. Frideric Prandecki/Dominic Hodgson (ST) vs. #81 Christian Blocker/David Simon (UM), DNF
2. Keith Crowley/Hector Nieto (UM) def. Dave Thomson/Jaime Pulgar (ST) 8-6
3. Carl Sundberg/Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Akash Gujarati/Rob Lowe (ST) 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2*
