The sun shone on the No. 8 Virginia men's tennis team yesterday, as the team played its last home match of the regular season, defeating No. 23 Florida State University, 5-2.
The Cavaliers (18-6, 8-1 ACC) began the match by winning their 13th consecutive doubles point. Sophomores Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey, playing No. 2, finished off Florida State's Maciek Sykut and Andrew Bailey first with a score of 8-3.
On the No. 3 court, seniors Darrin Cohen and Doug Stewart clinched the point by beating Jonathas Sucupira and Sam Chang. At match point, the Cavaliers served what appeared to be an ace, but was called a fault. As the home crowd booed the umpire, Cohen and Stewart clinched the win behind the crowd's slow clap.
Playing at No. 1, seniors Rylan Rizza and Nick Meythaler lost to Ytai Abougzir and Chris Westerhof, 8-5.
Rallied by the crowd, Virginia started up singles play with a quick point from Cohen on the No. 6 court. Cohen beat Seminole Chris Cloer in two straight sets, 6-0, 6-2.
"It's finally great to put together two really great sets," Cohen said. "I think that's the first time I've done that all season. I played some of the best tennis I've played in my four years."
Up 2-0, Virginia earned a third point at the No. 2 spot when No. 67 Rizza beat Sucupira. Rizza was penalized a point early in the match for throwing his racket, but quickly composed himself behind a cheering crowd. Rizza won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
"It's good to get a win," Rizza said. "It's good for us to bounce back after losing a tough match Friday [against Miami]. It shows how tough our team is to come back out here and play a tough Florida State team."
The Seminoles won their first point next, when Huey suffered a close loss to Chang, 6-7, 4-6, at No. 3.
Florida State brought the match to 3-2 with another victory. At the No. 5 spot, Meythaler lost in straight sets to Westerhof. After losing the first set 0-6, Meythaler looked like he was set to make a comeback when he rallied to a 5-2 lead in the second set. Westerhof, however, fought back to tie it up at 5-5. Meythaler then gained the lead when he won the next game, but was unable to close out the win. Westerhof won the next two games to win the set and the match.
The crowd then shifted its focus to the No. 1 court, as Virginia's No. 9 Devvarman battled FSU's No. 51 Abougzir. The two played evenly in the first set, taking it to a tie-breaker at 6-6. Devvarman came out on top to win the tiebreaker 7-3. In the second set, Abougzir won in another seven-game skirmish. Devvarman then ran away with the match, winning the third set 6-1 and sealing the win for Virginia.
"I lost the first game of the third set," Devvarman said. "But I talked to the coach about it and he told me all I needed to do was keep playing the way I was playing. Usually you have a coach who changes strategy, but the good thing about [assistant coach] Tony Bresky and [head coach] Brian Boland is they know what's right for you."
Junior Marko Miklo gave Virginia its fifth point after beating Sykut in three sets, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.
The Cavaliers recognized the significance of the win, since it was senior day and the last home match of the regular season, but they also know that it only brings them one step closer to their ultimate goal -- another championship title.
"It's obviously a sentimental day [for the seniors] -- I think we all wanted to play our best tennis," Cohen said. "But in terms of the overall season, it's just another stepping stone in going into the ACC tournament."
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