Alabama Men's Tennis Loses to No. 9 Virginia
2/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- No. 36 Alabama lost its second straight match Friday night, this time at the hands of one of the nation’s top teams, No. 9 Virginia (4-0).
The Cavaliers seized control the match early and never relinquished it as they cruised to a 6-1 victory.
“Once again we got off to a slow start,” head coach Billy Pate said, “particularly at the top of our singles line-up and it created a tough situation to battle back from.”
For just the second time this year Alabama (4-2) failed to win the doubles point, however that has been the predictor in all of the Tide’s matches this season. When Alabama wins the doubles point they are undefeated, but are winless when the point swings the other way.
Playing against possibly the deepest team in the country with five players in the ITA rankings, the Tide’s top two singles players, Luigi D’Agord and Joseph Jung, failed to win a single set. All six of the night’s singles matches were completed in straight sets as Virginia won five of the six.
“We’re a young team,” Pate said. “We’re still trying to find our identity. We realize this is just one match and we have to put it behind us, move on and come out prepared to play Sunday.”
One bright spot for Alabama Friday night was the play of freshman Javier Bes. The Spaniard moved to 4-1 on the season with his fourth consecutive win. Friday night’s win was his first victory over a ranked opponent as he defeated No. 63 Marko Miklo 6-4, 7-6.
“Javy is playing at a high level for us right now,” Pate said. “What makes his play more impressive is the fact that he isn’t used to playing indoors. It’s a new environment for him and he’s adopted fast.”
Alabama will end the weekend at William & Mary on Sunday. The match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.
No. 9 Virginia 6, No. 36 Alabama 1
Doubles:
1. #19 Rizza/Meythaler (UVa) def. D?Agord/Struyf (Ala) 8-6
2. Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. Molnar/Bes (Ala) 8-5
3. Cohen/Stewart (UVa) def. Murray/Kindervater (Ala) 8-1
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles:
1. #19 Doug Stewart (UVa) def. #31 Luigi D?Agord (Ala) 6-3, 6-3
2. #36 Rylan Rizza (UVa) def. #92 Joseph Jung (Ala) 6-1, 6-4
3. #22 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. Eric Molnar (Ala) 6-3, 6-2
4. Javier Bes (Ala) def. #63 Marko Miklo (UVa) 6-4, 7-6
5. #104 Treat Huey (UVa) def. RJ Murray (Ala) 6-0, 6-1
6. Darrin Cohen (UVa) def. Billy Mertz (Ala) 7-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 5,2,3,1,6,4
