May 14, 2006

Charlottesville, Va. - Wake Forest was two tiebreakers away from making its first trip to the Sweet 16 in men's tennis, but seventh-ranked Virginia survived a major scare and prevailed 4-2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday in Charlottesville. The match lasted almost four and a half hours.

The 28th-ranked Demon Deacons ended their season at 16-11 while Virginia improved to 23-8 and punched its ticket for next week's Sweet 16 in Palo Alto, Calif.

The match was delayed 90 minutes due to rain and moved indoors to the Boar's Head Sports Club, the indoor home of the Cavaliers.

In doubles, Wake Forest's number three team of Mariusz Adamski and Andrew Hamar handed Virginia's Darrin Cohen and Doug Stewart just their sixth loss of the season. But the doubles point was decided at number one where Brett Ross and Charles Sartor were in a battle with the nation's seventh-ranked doubles team, Nick Meythaler and Rylan Rizza. Trailing 7-5, the Deacon pair fought off four set points against Rizza's serve but squandered one break point before finally succumbing, 8-5, to give the `Hoos a 1-0 advantage.

In singles, Virginia extended its lead to 2-0 at number six where Cohen defeated Liron Strauss, who played his final match for the Deacons on Sunday.

But the Deacons fought with a pair of singles wins to even the score within 15 minutes. Cory Parr convincingly upended 63rd-ranked Treat Huey, 7-5, 6-0. Huey was previously 15-2 in dual matches this season at number four. Then, Andrew Hamar disposed of 54th-ranked Rylan Rizza, 6-2, 6-4, who went 8-1 in the ACC.

Meanwhile, on courts one and five, the Deacons were leading a set. Todd Paul and Mariusz Adamski simultaneously went into second set tiebreakers. If both Deacons had won, Wake Forest would have knocked off the nation's preseason number one team and booked a flight for California. Unfortunately for the Deacons, Virginia won both tiebreakers, forcing pivotal third sets and leaving nothing decided.

That shifted the spotlight to number three singles where a pair of seniors, Wake Forest's Brett Ross and Virginia's Doug Stewart were midway through their third set. Stewart had won the first in a tiebreaker, but Ross rallied to win the second set, 6-2. The third set was tied, 5-5, when Ross broke serve to put the match on his racket.

Stewart, the nation's 95th-ranked player, responded by breaking Ross' serve. In the tiebreaker, Ross was running out of steam, as both of his legs cramped. Ross used a pair of medical timeouts late in the third set, the last one while he trailed 6-3 in the tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, on court one, Devvarman had pulled away from Paul, winning the final set 6-3 and the Deacons stared at a 3-2 deficit.

When Ross was able to resume play, Stewart needed just one point to finish Ross and the Deacons, capping an improbable comeback.

All together, the Deacons and Cavaliers competed in five singles tiebreakers. Virginia won four of the five.

The loss ended the careers of three outstanding Wake Forest seniors, Joe Bates, Brett Ross and Liron Strauss. Individually, Ross compiled 97 singles wins, the fourth-most in Deacon history, and 88 doubles wins, tied for the second-most in history. Collectively, the trio comprised one of the most successful classes in program history. They helped the Deacons to four straight NCAA Tournaments and to the NCAA second round three times in four seasons, the best finishes in the 52-year history of Wake Forest tennis.

Although the season is over for the Deacons as a team, 18th-ranked Todd Paul will compete in the NCAA Singles Championship beginning May 24 in Palo Alto, Calif.

#7 Virginia 4, #28 Wake Forest 2
#1 -     #14 Somdev Devvarman (VA) def. #18 Todd Paul (WF)
         VA -- 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3
#2 -     Andrew Hamar (WF) def. #54 Rylan Rizza (VA)
         WF -- 6-2, 6-4
#3 -     #95 Doug Stewart (VA) def. Brett Ross (WF)
         VA -- 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (3)
#4 -     Cory Parr (WF) def. #63 Treat Huey (VA)
         WF -- 7-5, 6-0
#5 -     Marko Miklo (VA) led Mariusz Adamski (WF)
         DNF (VA led) -- 1-6, 7-6 (4), 5-3
#6 -     Darrin Cohen (VA) def. Liron Strauss (WF)
         VA -- 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish:  6, 4, 2, 1, 3   
#1 -     #7 Rizza/Meythaler (VA) def. Ross/Sartor (WF)
         VA -- 8-5
#2 -     Huey/Devvarman (VA) def. Paul/Parr (WF)
         VA -- 8-3
#3 -     Adamski/Hamar (WF) def. Cohen/Stewart (VA)
         WF -- 8-5
Order of Finish:  2, 3, 1

WF: (16-10)
VA: (23-8)