Cav men's tennis aces Clemson; Jackets sting Virginia in doubles

The Virginia men's tennis team picked up both a win and a loss this weekend when it hosted ACC rivals Clemson and Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers (8-4, 2-3 ACC) defeated the Tigers (4-16, 1-4), 5-2, on Friday before losing to No. 23 Georgia Tech (13-4, 3-1), 5-2, on Saturday.

Against Clemson, the Cavaliers won four of six singles matches after claiming two of three doubles victories to capture the point for doubles. They sealed the victory when sophomore Michael Duquette defeated Micah Thompson of Clemson (2-6, 6-2, 6-3) at No. 4 singles. It was the second consecutive match-clinching victory for Duquette. He also won the match for the Cavaliers against William & Mary last Wednesday. Duquette and senior Tommy Croker also won at No. 2 doubles, 8-6.

Virginia's top two players, seniors Brian Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery, won their singles matches and combined to notch a doubles victory as well against Tigers Brad Emendorfer and Daren Knight. Senior Brian Hunter defeated Eric Cohn of Clemson in the No. 5 match, 6-1, 6-2.

"It was an important match," Virginia coach Dick Stockton said. "It was tough, and they gave us all we could handle. We were also a little flat, but we did what we needed to do."

The victory gave Tigers coach Chuck Kriese his first loss to the Cavaliers in his career at Clemson. Previously, Kriese was 26-0 against Virginia.

On Saturday, however, the Cavaliers met a greater challenge in Georgia Tech.

Spirits were up early on, as Vahaly and Montgomery teamed up to pick up a hard-fought 8-6 doubles victory over Georgia Tech's Roger Anderson and David Wright. Vahaly was nearly flawless against Yellow Jacket Fabio Coirault, cruising to a 6-2, 6-0 victory. Montgomery added a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Anderson.