Virginia and Miami to Battle for ACC Men's Tennis Championship Title :: Hurricanes upend another top seed, No. 3 Florida State, in Saturday's semifinal action.

April 19, 2008

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - After eliminating the No. 2 seed from the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Tennis Championship the previous day, seventh-seeded Miami followed up with another upset as it defeated No. 3 seed Florida State 4-3 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The Hurricanes (16-6) will now take on defending champion Virginia on Sunday at 11 a.m. for the league crown.

Although Virginia holds a 3-0 advantage over Miami in the league tournament, the two teams have never met in championship final match. The Cavaliers, who have won 27 straight matches this year, seek their fourth league title while Miami will be playing for its first ever.

Wake Forest, which has faced the Virginia Cavaliers seven times in the ACC Tournament, started the day strong winning on courts one and three in doubles. Cory Parr and Steven Forman, the ninth-ranked tandem in the nation, upended the country's No. 1 duo of Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey at the top position. The Demon Deacons clinched the point and a 1-0 lead when Jonathan Wolff and Jason Morgenstern triumphed over the Cavaliers' Ted Angelinos and Lee Singer 9-8 (5) at the third spot.

Singles action played out differently for the Demon Deacons. The Cavaliers won the first set at all six positions and then collected wins from Treat Huey, Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh for a 3-1 lead. Michael Shabaz clinched the overall match for Virginia with a 7-6 (2) 6-4 victory against Morgenstern at No. 4.

The first-ever meeting between in-state rivals Miami and Florida State in the ACC Tournament played out in dramatic fashion. The Hurricanes took an early 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point, as David Rosenfeld and Vivek Subramanian clinched the point with an 8-5 win over FSU's Sam Chang and Maciek Sykut at the No. 2 position.

Things heated up in singles as a trio of the matches went to three sets. Chris Cloer evened the playing field with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 6, and teammate Clint Bowles gave the Seminoles a 2-1 lead after posting a 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory over Rosenfeld on court three. Miami went on to win at Nos. 4 and 5 for a 3-2 advantage, but the Gold and Garnet were relentless. In a battle between All-ACC performers Jean-Yves Aubone and Daniel Vallverdu at the top spot, Aubone recorded a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-4 win to tie the match and the battle came down to court two.

Miami's Subramanian dropped the first set to FSU's Chang 6-7 (4), but the senior from East Brunswick, N.J., would rally back to win the next two sets 6-3 and 7-5 and clinch the match and overall 4-3 victory for the Hurricanes. The win also extended Miami's streak to seven matches.

Coverage of the ACC Men's Tennis Championship will be made available On-Demand every night (April 18-20) by 9 p.m. on ACC Select.

Thursday, April 17 - First Round Results
#8 NC State def. #9 Georgia Tech, 4-3
#5 Virginia Tech def. #12 Clemson, 4-3
#7 Miami def. #10 Maryland, 4-1
#6 Duke def. #11 Boston College, 4-0

Friday, April 18 - Quarterfinals
#1 Virginia def. #8 NC State, 4-1
#4 Wake Forest def. #5 Virginia Tech, 4-3
#7 Miami def. #2 North Carolina, 4-3
#3 Florida State def. #6 Duke, 4-0

Saturday, April 19 - Semifinals
#1 Virginia def. #4 Wake Forest, 4-1
#7 Miami def. #3 Florida State, 4-3

Sunday, April 20 - Final
#1 Virginia vs. #7 Miami - 11:00 a.m.