The odds were stacked against Virginia men's tennis players Brian Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery as they entered National Indoors this past weekend.
The senior co-captains are both 5-foot-11, which served as a disadvantage on the fast courts in Dallas, where taller players who hit hard possess an upper hand.
Montgomery defeated Rene Combette of Mississippi State, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, in the first round. He then advanced to take on last year's NCAA single's champion, Alex Kim of Stanford. Down 4-1 in the second set, Kim rallied to win, 6-4, 7-5.
"The first round was good because I beat a player ranked in the top 20 in the country," Montgomery said. "I had a lot of chances in the second match but wasn't able to capitalize. However, it was good because it showed I can play with the best players in the country."
Vahaly came into the tournament riding the momentum of a stellar fall campaign. The Atlanta native, ranked third in the country in the fall, advanced to the finals of National Clay Courts and the quarterfinals of the All-American Championships.
When the collegiate tennis rankings came out for the spring, however, Vahaly surprisingly had dropped to No. 13 in the nation. This flaw and others in the ranking system have raised the eyes of many in the tennis community and there have been discussions of changes being made.
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Vahaly came into National Indoors riding a wave of momentum following his championship at the Farnsworth/ Princeton Indoors. In the first round, Vahaly was matched up against No. 4 Oskar Johansson of Arkansas, who defeated Vahaly, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, in the finals of Clay Courts in September. Vahaly was not able to exact revenge for the previous loss as Johansson won, 6-0, 6-2.
"I usually work myself into a tournament and play better as the week goes on," Vahaly said. "He played very well though."
The doubles tandem of Vahaly and Montgomery enter the outdoor season as the top-ranked team in the country after advancing to the finals of both Clay Courts and All-American. Despite losing in the first round to Scott Lipinsky and David Martin of Stanford 7-6, 7-6, they will remain No. 1 based on the points they have accumulated.
"It's cool to be No. 1 in the country," Montgomery said. "Our play might be ugly at times but we find a way to win."
"It's a huge honor," Vahaly said of the top ranking. "Huntley is playing incredible doubles and he is good at frustrating our opponents."
There are high expectations entering a year in which four of the Cavaliers' top six players are seniors, two of which are among the nation's elite. Beyond the top two, Virginia needs one or more of its four remaining starters to step up for the team to win consistently and advance far into the NCAA Tournament.
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