The Virginia men's and women's tennis teams defied recent history yesterday, as both notched key victories over in-state and conference rivals.
The men entered their match against No. 26 Virginia Commonwealth with only one win against the Rams since 1990, but that didn't stop the Cavaliers from sliding past VCU, 4-3. The women also slaughtered Maryland, 6-1, after losing to the Terrapins in three of their last four meetings.
"It was a very good win for our team," Virginia men's coach Dick Stockton said. "When we played [VCU] here two years ago, we let it slip away. I was worried about that happening again."
But the Cavaliers (9-4) got off on the right foot by winning 2-of-3 doubles matches to go up 1-0 on VCU (13-9).
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Virginia seniors Brian Vahaly, Huntley Montgomery and Brian Hunter all walked away with decisive victories to clinch the upset in singles play. At the top spot, Vahaly cruised past VCU junior Florian Marquardt, 6-3, 6-3, and Hunter routed Ram sophomore Mats Norin, a player Hunter lost to twice last year, 6-4, 6-2. Montgomery's contest featured a back-and-forth, first-set thriller. VCU's Frank Moser put up a good fight, but the Cavaliers' second-spot player was just too much. Montgomery grabbed the first set, 7-5, and put Moser away in the second, 6-3, to give Virginia the fourth and match-deciding point.
The Cavaliers' fifth point came from junior Jason Romesburg, who played at the sixth spot. He took the first set from Ram junior Matthias Hogland, 6-4, but Hogland dominated the second, 6-0. Romesburg turned things back around in the third set super-tiebreaker and prevailed, 1-0.
The wins from Hunter and Romesburg, who are part of Virginia's inconsistent bottom half, proved crucial. Hunter's victory gave the senior much-needed confidence, and Romesburg's snapped a five-match singles losing streak.
"Hunter played really well, and Jason pulling out his match was really exciting," Virginia sophomore Michael Duquette said. "It was just a really exciting win."
Only a couple of hours after the men claimed their surprise victory, the women (13-5, 2-1 ACC) followed suit with their win over Maryland (5-8, 1-3). The Cavaliers also took an early 1-0 lead by winning 2-of-3 doubles matches. Because Virginia's doubles play has been a problem spot this season, winning the doubles point gave them an extra boost heading into singles.
"We were very thorough," Virginia women's assistant coach Justin Drzal said. "We just took care of business. We played clean, intelligently and efficiently. We worked hard to be good and to be ready for April, and now we're ready. Any ACC win is a nice win."
Virginia senior Christie Schweer and sophomore Henriette Williams continued their outstanding play. Schweer's 6-4, 6-4 win over the Terrapins' Pamela Floro was her fifth consecutive singles victory. Williams gained her sixth straight singles triumph by defeating Maryland senior Catherine Valantin. Schweer and Williams paired up in doubles to beat Maryland's Floro and Delila Causevic to gain their fourth straight doubles victory.
The more experienced bottom half of Virginia's lineup also came through. Sophomore Jennifer Tuchband, freshman Laura James and senior Kelly Weaver all won their matches in straight sets. The youth in Maryland's bottom half, with two freshmen, probably hurt the Terrapins.
"Experience definitely played a factor," Weaver said. "You can definitely see the difference. You definitely progress as a team through time in terms of maturity and handling situations on the court"
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