University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols sneak past Virginia Tech, 4-3
March 15, 2008 | Men's Tennis
The 13th-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team got off to an uncharacteristically slow start Saturday but got going in time to put off 31st-ranked Virginia Tech???s upset aspirations, 4-3 on a stormy afternoon at the Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center.
???Today was a good win against a good Virginia Tech team,??? head coach Sam Winterbotham said. ???We learned today that we don???t need the doubles point to win the match but it sure does help.???
The Hokies (9-2) started the match by shocking UT and winning the doubles point. The Vols have been very strong in doubles this season but lost at the No. 2 and 3 positions to give the point to Tech. UT's Kaden Hensel and J.P. Smith won at No. 1, 8-4, over Nicolas Delgado and Pedro Graber to give the Vols their only victory. UT's top doubles duo is now 11-1 this season at the No. 1 position.
Virginia Tech's Brandon Corace and Albert Larregola defeated Matteo Fago and Jeremy Tweedt 8-4 at the No. 2 position for the Hokies first win. Tech clinched the point when Sebastien Jacques and Yoann Re defeated Boris Conkic and Chris Racz 9-8.
The Vols (13-1) headed into singles trailing for only the second time this season but quickly took control of the match winning the first set in three of four matches.
Fago tied the match for UT with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Graber at the No. 4 position. The UT freshman from Ceprano, Italy, is 4-1 at the No. 4 position and has won four consecutive singles matches.
Conkic also bounced back from his doubles defeat to beat Delgado 6-1, 6-2. Conkic, ranked 67th in the most recent ITA singles poll, is tied with Davey Sandgren for the most singles dual-match wins with 10.
Hensel gave Tennessee a 3-1 lead with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Re at the No. 2 position. UT's 2007 All-America began the season at the No. 1 position in the singles lineup but since being moved down one spot in the rotation has gone 3-0.
Virginia Tech's Larregola kept the Hokies in the match with a three-set win over Smith 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The singles match between each team's top netter lasted nearly three hours but Larregola was able to break Smith's serve in the final set to get the upset win over the 16th-ranked Vol.
Tweedt clinched the match for UT with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jacques at the No. 3 position. Tweedt, a freshman from Paris, France, has quietly put together a very solid rookie year, he is now 6-1 in dual-match singles to go along with a 9-4 record in doubles.
Corace gave the Hokies their final victory with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Matt Brewer at the No. 6 position.
The Vols now embark on a big road trip that see them log a lot of miles to play their next three matches. On Tuesday, the Vols will be in Gainesville, Fla., to face the 12th-ranked Florida Gators. From Gainesville, UT travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to face Arkansas on Friday afternoon. The Big Orange will then hurry back to Knoxville as they host the LSU Tigers on Easter Sunday at 1 p.m. at the UT Outdoor Varsity Courts.
???We have a great and challenging schedule from now until the end of the regular season,??? Winterbotham said. ???We need to continue to strive to get better everyday. If we do that we have a chance to be successful at the end of the year.
Live scoring for all matches can be found at UTsports.com.
| No. 13 Tennessee 4 No. 31 Virginia Tech 3 | ||||
| Singles | ||||
| 1. | No. 54 Albert Larregola (VT) | def. | No. 16 J.P. Smith (UT) | 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 |
| 2. | No. 79 Kaden Hensel (UT) | def. | Yoann Re (VT) | 6-1, 6-4 |
| 3. | No. 67 Boris Conkic (UT) | def. | Nicolas Delgado (VT) | 6-1, 6-2 |
| 4. | Matteo Fago (UT) | def. | Pedro Graber (VT) | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 5. | Jeremy Tweedt (UT) | def. | Sebastien Jacques (VT) | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 6. | Brandon Corace (VT) | def. | Matt Brewer (UT) 6-3, | 7-6(3) |
| Order of Finish: 4,3,2,1,5,6 | ||||
| Doubles | ||||
| 1. | No. 13 Hensel/Smith (UT) | def. | Delgado/Graber (VT) | 8-4 |
| 2. | Corace/Larregola (VT) | def. | Fago/Tweedt (UT) | 8-4 |
| 3. | Jacques/Re (VT) | def. | Conkic/Racz (UT) | 9-8 |
| Order of Finish: 1,2,3 | ||||
