No. 24 Men's Tennis Wins Fifth Straight
April 10, 2011
CORAL GABLES, FLA. – The24th-ranked University of Miami men’s tennis team cruised past Boston College, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center to improve to 8-1 in ACC play. The Hurricanes honored their five seniors — Christian Blöcker, Waylon Chin, Keith Crowley, Eduardo Pavia and Carl Sundberg – during their final home match of the regular season.
“There was a lot of emotion out there today with it being senior day,” said Crowley. “We pulled through with some good wins and everyone came out and took care of business. We did what we needed to do, and that’s what we expect from the guys.”
Miami (14-5, 8-1) won the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead. At No. 2, Crowley and freshman Omar Aly won their second-straight match of the weekend, using the 8-4 win to clinch the point for UM. Pavia and freshman Pedro Ast also knocked off their Boston College (5-15, 0-9) opponents, 8-4, at No. 3, improving to 6-1 in conference play.
Crowley won his fifth-straight match to extend Miami’s lead to 2-0, rolling past Boston College’s Alex Skinner, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 2 to improve to 15-6 overall and 7-2 in the ACC.
Pavia (21-9, 7-2) and freshman Gabriel Flores (19-12, 7-2) followed up with quick straight-sets wins of their own at No. 5 and 6, respectively, to give the Hurricanes the insurmountable 4-0 lead and Miami’s eighth ACC win in nine opportunities. It marks the third time in UM’s seven years of ACC play that the ‘Canes have notched at least eight league wins. In both previous instances – 2006 and 2009 – Miami went on to advance to the NCAA’s Round of 16.
Sundberg (17-11, 7-2) closed his senior day with the 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 4 for his fifth-straight singles decision, while Chin (10-17, 3-3) added Miami’s sixth unanswered point with the 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3.
“We had a great day today,” said Miami head coach Mario Rincon, reflecting on Senior Day. “We’ve had a great time together and have been through a lot. We bounced back from a disappointing year last year – and today is a great day because we’ve come together and are having a great season.
“In college tennis you spend so much time together because it’s a relatively small group. You get to know each other very well, and the nice thing about it is when they graduate they are your friends. I’m looking forward to enjoying the coming years as friends with them.”
But the Hurricanes aren’t done with competition yet, as UM closes regular-season ACC play on the road this weekend at a pair of ranked opponents. Miami, who is undefeated away from home in conference competition at 3-0, takes on No. 17 North Carolina on Fri., April 15, at 3 p.m. and then closes the regular season at No. 11 Duke on Sun., Apr. 17, at Noon.
#24 Miami 6, Boston College 1
Singles
1. Akash Muppidi (BC) def. Christian Blocker (UM) 6-4, 7-5
2. Keith Crowley (UM) def. Alex Skinner (BC) 6-1, 6-1
3. Waylon Chin (UM) def. Erik Kreutzer (BC) 6-3, 6-3
4. Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Jonathan Raude (BC) 6-3, 6-3
5. Eduardo Pavia (UM) def. Jonathan Schroeder (BC) 6-3, 6-0
6. Gabriel Flores (UM) def. Brendon Wong (BC) 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 2, 5, 6*, 4, 3, 1
Doubles
1. Akash Muppidi/Billy Grokenberger (BC) def. Carl Sundberg/Christian Blocker (UM) 8-5
2. Keith Crowley/Omar Aly (UM) def. Alex Skinner/Michael McGinnis (BC) 8-4
3. Eduardo Pavia/Pedro Ast (UM) def. Adam Davison/Erik Kreutzer (BC) 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2*
