No. 4 Duke Sneaks Past No. 13 Miami 4-3 to Remain Undefeated in the ACC

Friday, March 31

Miami, Fla.

10 a.m.

Duke University

Miami

Men?s Tennis Completes Final Day Of Action At UVA Invitational

No. 4 Duke Sneaks Past No. 13 Miami 4-3 to Remain Undefeated in the ACC

3/31/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

Coral Gables, Fla. - No. 4 Duke bounced back from Wednesday's loss to stay unbeaten in ACC at 4-0 as they defeated No. 13 Miami, 4-3, on Friday in Coral Gables, Fla. The Blue Devils are now 12-4 overall while the Hurricanes slip to 12-3 on the year and 4-2 in conference play.

The Blue Devils are one of only two teams undefeated in ACC matches this season as Virginia has a 4-0 record. Duke got off to another good start with wins in two of the three doubles matches. After Miami won the No. 1 doubles match the Blue Devils rallied to take the second and third matches. Ned Samuelson and Ludovic Walter won at No. 3 against P.J. Passalacqua and Vivek Subramanian, 8-6. Peter Rodrigues and Stephen Amritraj defeated Eric Hechtman and Tim Krebs at No. 2, 8-5, to clinch the doubles point. The result at No. 1 was the Hurricanes No. 46 Daniel Vallverdu and Luigi D'Agord over Duke's No. 29 Joey Atas and Jonathan Stokke, 8-5.

The match went back-and-forth throughout singles. Miami tied the score at 1-1 with a victory in the No. 6 singles match. John Hoyes won in straight sets against Amritraj 7-6, 6-3. Amritraj was competing in just his third singles match of the season. The Blue Devils regained the lead when No. 37 Jonathan Stokke came back after losing the first set, 6-1, to turn the tables and win 6-2, 6-3 in the final two sets for a victory against No. 48 Josh Cohen. The win gives Stokke a team-high 23 on the year as he is now 23-14 and 8-7 in dual matches.

The Hurricanes answered again as Krebs won on a tiebreaker in the second set to complete the 6-1, 7-6 victory against Atas, tying the team score at 2-2. It was the first loss of the year in ACC play for Atas as he fell to 2-1. Miami would then take its first lead of the contest when No. 7 Luigi D'Agord upset No. 5 Ludovic Walter in three sets, giving Walter his first ACC loss of the year. D'Agord came out strong winning the first set 6-1 and after Walter took the second set 6-3 he came away with the victory, earning a 6-3 decision in the final set. Walter fell to 21-9 on the season and 11-4 in dual matches.

Duke would not go away, however, as they were able to pull out the final two matches in three sets for the win. No. 62 Peter Rodrigues won at No. 3 against Daniel Vallverdu 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Rodrigues won his sixth straight match to pick up his 20th victory of the season. He is now 20-7 overall, 14-1 in dual matches and 3-1 in the ACC. The final singles match came down to No. 5 with Duke's Kiril Dimitrov facing Miami's Eric Hechtman. Dimitrov lost the first set 6-1, but won a pair of close sets 7-6, 7-5 to finish the match. Dimitrov is the only Duke player still undefeated in conference play at 4-0. He is 10-4 in dual matches and 12-5 overall.

The Blue Devils will stay in Florida for another ACC match on Sunday. They will take on No. 27 Florida State at 12 p.m.

Duke vs. Miami
3/31/06 at Coral Gables, Fla.

DU 4, UM 3

Singles
1. #7 Luigi D'Agord (UM) def. #5 Ludovic Walter (DU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
2. #37 Jonathan Stokke (DU) def. #48 Josh Cohen (UM) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
3. #62 Peter Rodrigues (DU) def. Daniel Vallverdu (UM) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
4. Tim Krebs (UM) def. Joey Atas (DU) 6-1, 7-6
5. Kiril Dimitrov (DU) def. Eric Hechtman (UM) 1-6, 7-6, 7-5
6. John Hoyes (UM) def. Stephen Amritraj (DU) 7-6, 6-3

Doubles
1. #46 Daniel Vallverdu/Luigi D'Agord (UM) def. #29 Joey Atas/Jonathan Stokke (DU) 8-5
2. Peter Rodrigues/Stephen Amritraj (DU) def. Eric Hechtman/Tim Krebs (UM) 8-5
3. Ludovic Walter/Ned Samuelson (DU) def. P.J. Passalacqua/Vivek Subramanian (UM) 8-6

Match Notes:
Duke 12-3, 4-0 ACC; National ranking #4
Miami 12-3, 4-2 ACC; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,2,4,1,3,5)