Michigan
Virginia Tech
Michigan Upends Virginia Tech, 5-2
1/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Site: Charlottesville, Va. (Boars Head Tennis Center)
Score: Michigan 5, Virginia Tech 2
Records: U-M (3-0), VT (0-1)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 30 -- at Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.), 7 p.m.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team received a balanced effort in defeating Virginia Tech 5-2 on a neutral site at Boars Head Tennis Center. The victory moved the Wolverines to 3-0 on the season, their best start since winning the first three matches of the 1995-96 season.
Michigan jumped out to a 1-0 lead with victories at all three doubles spots. Junior Matt Wright (Wichita, Kan./Wichita Collegiate HS) and freshman Danny McCain (Largo, Fla./Canterbury School) got the match started in Michigan's favor, defeating Virginia Tech's Aaron Marchetti and Adam Marchetti, ranked 18th nationally, by an 8-3 score.
The Wolverines No. 2 pairing of senior William Farah (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) and junior Brad McFarlane (Kingston, Ontario/Bayridge Secondary HS) continued the impressive doubles play with an 8-3 victory to keep their dual match record undefeated at 3-0 this season. Junior John Long (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and senior co-captain Jake Raiton (Portland, Ore./Wilson HS) followed suit with an 8-3 win at the No. 3 spot.
In singles play, the Wolverines lower half of the lineup clinched the 5-2 win with victories at No. 3 through No. 6 singles. The big win came as Long defeated Virginia Tech's Neils Oggesen, ranked 72nd in the country, in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) at No. 3 singles. The freshmen trio of McCain, Henry Beam (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS) and Ben Cox (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake HS) won impressive matches to remain undefeated in dual competition.
The Wolverines look to open the season with four straight wins when they face Virginia tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 30) at 7 p.m. Michigan has not started the year with four consecutive victories since 1988, when it finished third in the team competition at the NCAA Championships.
Following are match-by-match results:
Singles
No. 1 -- #38 Aaron Marchetti (VT) d. Matt Wright, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 -- #23 Adam Marchetti (VT) d. William Farah, 2-6, 7-6, 7-6
No. 3 -- John Long (U-M) d. #72 Neils Oggesen, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 -- Danny McCain (U-M) d. Davor Dupljak, 6-2, 7-6
No. 5 -- Henry Beam (U-M) d. Ryan Davidson, 6-1, 6-0
No. 6 -- Ben Cox (U-M) d. Grant Semon, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- Wright/McCain (U-M) d. #18 Marchetti/Marchetti, 8-3
No. 2 -- Farah/McFarlane (U-M) d. Davidson/Dupljak, 8-3
No. 3 -- Long/Jake Raiton (U-M) d. Oggesen/Eddie Terzimehic, 8-3
QUOTES
Michigan Head Coach Brian Eisner
About the match ... "It's sure nice to win. The best thing about this victory is that it was against a Virginia Tech team that is ranked 42nd in the country and in my estimations is a Top 25 caliber squad. They are ranked second in the ITA's East Region and play against all the very good Ivy League programs.
"I felt the difference for us today was the energy level that we exhibited in our doubles play. We dominated the doubles matches and that carried over to our play in singles. The only losses in singles came to the Marchetti brothers, who are ranked 23rd (Adam) and 38th (Aaron) in the country.
"Virginia Tech posed a lot of challenges for our team but we handled them very well. They have a great 1-2-3 singles punch and the Marchetti brothers are also an excellent doubles team. The neutral court was a real advantage for us and I think our players responded extremely well to the challenges."
About tomorrow's match against Virginia ... "Virginia will be a difficult challenge for us tomorrow. We will be playing on Virginia's home court, which they are extremely familiar with, and will have great crowd support. Virginia is currently ranked 32nd nationally and poses very similar but yet different challenges to our team. Their doubles teams are outstanding top to bottom and Brian Vahaly is the No. 2 ranked singles player in the nation. This will be another tough match."
Players Mentioned
