Duke Cruises Past Virginia Tech, 6-1

Friday, April 2

Durham, N.C.

3:00 p.m.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Cruises Past Virginia Tech, 6-1

4/2/2010 7:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. - Duke took a commanding 6-1 win against No. 18 Virginia Tech at the Ambler Tennis Stadium this afternoon. The 27^th-ranked Blue Devils (11-5, 4-0 ACC) earned their fourth ACC win and continued their six-match win streak.

"We are hitting our stride," assistant coach Josh Goffi said. "I think we have found a good lineup, a strong lineup that everyone believes in. Our doubles are great; we have three teams ranked. In singles play, our guys are stepping up."

Duke got out to the early lead, with the third-ranked pair of Henrique Cunha and Reid Carleton cruising to an 8-2 victory in No. 1 doubles over Will Beck and Patrick Daciek from Virginia Tech. It was the 29th win of the season for Cunha and Carleton.

In No. 2 doubles, Blue Devils Dylan Arnould and David Holland, currently tabbed 80^th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, took down the No. 73 Hokie pair of Yoann Re and Sebastien Jacques, 8-2. Duke was up 6-1 before closing out the pro set. The win gave Duke the doubles point and a 1-0 advantage going into singles play.

On court three, a close match between No. 63 Alain Michel and Torsten Wietoska of Duke against Luka Somen and Corrado Degl' Incerti Tocci of Virginia Tech ended in a 7-6 (9-7) win for the Hokies.

In singles play, 11^th-ranked Cunha put Duke up 2-0 in the match with his 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 38 Re. A native of Jaú, Brazil, it was Cunha's first singles match since a win over top-ranked Steve Johnson of USC on March 17.

On court two, Carleton won a decisive 6-0, 6-0 match over No. 61 Somen from Virginia Tech. The junior from Naples, Fla., earned the double bagel by controlling the points, which gave Duke a 3-0 lead in the match.

"Reid is probably the biggest factor on our team right now," Goffi said. "He is coming back from a little bit of a slump, but he just beat two good players, badly, in the last two matches. Somen has lost only two dual matches all year and one of them was in a tiebreaker."

Playing at No. 6 singles, Duke's Luke Marchese clinched the overall match, beating No. 117 Jacques 6-4, 6-4 to give Duke the 4-0 lead and the win against Virginia Tech. Marchese is 4-0 in ACC play this season.

Arnould, ranked 87^th, won the second set 6-1, but Tocci took a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles to get Virginia Tech its first, and last, team point.

At No. 5 singles, Holland won several close games with Beck and ultimately took the win with sets of 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Holland is 8-4 in dual matches this season after earning his third ACC singles victory.

In a back-and-forth match with both players showing a lot of emotion, Wietoska won a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 match over Daciek to give Duke the 6-1 win over Virginia Tech.

"For [Holland and Wietoska] to pull out those matches is huge," Goffi said. "Those matches are extremely important for the rest of the season. We had already won [the overall match] and the tendency is for the team to relax, but those matches are extremely important. The best teams always win those matches."

Duke will face No. 1 Virginia on Sunday at Ambler Tennis Stadium at 1 p.m.

-d-u-k-e-

Duke 6, Virginia Tech 1
Apr 02, 2010 at Durham, N.C. (Ambler Tennis Stadium)

Singles competition

1. #11 Henrique Cunha (DU) def. #38 Yoann Re (VT) 6-2, 6-2

2. Reid Carleton (DU) def. #61 Luka Somen (VT) 6-0, 6-0

3. Corrado Tocci (VT) def. #87 Dylan Arnould (DU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

4. Torsten Wietoska (DU) def. Patrick Daciek (VT) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

5. David Holland (DU) def. Will Beck (VT) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4

6. Luke Marchese (DU) def. #117 Sebastien Jacques (VT) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #3 Reid Carleton/Henrique Cunha (DU) def. Will Beck/Patrick Daciek (VT) 8-2