Sports > April 24, 2008

By Alex Botoman | Staff writer

It was déjà vu for the men’s tennis team at the ACC Championships on April 18 and 19 as for the second weekend in a row they defeated No. 27 Virginia Tech and lost to No. 1 Virginia. The Deacons record currently stands at 17-10 (8-5) going into the NCAA Tennis Championships.

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Doubles partners sophomore Andrew Brasseaux and junior Carlos Salmon talk strategy in a home game. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

Wake had the No. 4 seed in the ACC Championships, which were held in Altamonte Springs, Fla., and had a bye in the first round of the tournament. In the quarterfinals, on April 18, the Deacs defeated Virginia Tech 4-2.

The Deacons got on the scoreboard early by winning the doubles point.

At No. 3 doubles, freshman Jonathan Wolff and sophomore Jason Morgenstern cruised past Sebasties Jacques and Yoann Re 8-2.

The Hokies picked up a win at No. 2 when Nicolas Delgado de Robles and Albert Larregola defeated senior Mariusz Adamski and junior Carlos Salmon 8-6.

Wake clinched the doubles point by virtue of an 8-6 win by the No. 9-ranked duo of junior Cory Parr and sophomore Steve Forman over Brandon Corace and Pedro Graber.

The Hokies did not go down easily in the singles matches.

At No. 1 Virginia Tech’s No. 42 Larregola dominated No. 72 Forman 6-0, 6-1 to even the match at 1-1.

Sophomore Andrew Brasseaux answered for the Deacs with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Corace at No. 6 singles.

Re once again pulled the Hokies even by taking down Adamski 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3.

At No. 5 singles, Wolff defeated Jacques 6-2, 6-2 to put the Deacons up 3-2 and in position to clinch.

No. 44 Parr cemented a semifinal berth for Wake by grinding out a tough 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over No. 118 Delgado de Robles at No. 2 singles

“It was a little difficult going out there knowing that this is a match that our team was counting on,” Parr said. “This was my fourth time playing him, and although I have beaten him before, tournament time adds more pressure.”

Wake put up a tough fight in the semifinals against the undefeated Virginia Cavaliers but eventually succumbed 4-1 on April 19.

Wake came out firing on all cylinders and took the doubles point against a lineup that included two nationally ranked doubles teams, including the No. 1 tandem in the nation in Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey.

The Cavaliers picked up the first doubles win of the day at No. 2 as Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz took down Adamski and Salmon 8-5.

Wake answered as Parr and Forman played the match of their lives to take down the No. 1-ranked Devvarman and Huey.

“It felt really great to pull out that win,” Parr said. “When we played them last time we felt that we played them tight and had a lot of chances that we did not convert on. Beating the number one team in the country just showed us that we can play against anybody in the country.”

The Deacs wrapped up the doubles point when Morgenstern and Wolff toughed out a tiebreak at No. 3 doubles to defeat the No. 53 team of Lee Singer and Ted Angelinos 9-8(5).

Virginia did not stay down for long as they rallied in the singles matches to knock off Wake.

“Although we might have caught them a little off guard in doubles, they are not the number one team for nothing,” Parr said. “We knew they were going to come out firing in singles, but maybe we all weren’t ready for that when we got out there for singles.”

At No. 2 singles No. 29 Huey rolled past No. 44 Parr 6-2, 6-1. Houston Barrick put the Cavaliers ahead 2-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Brasseaux at No. 6.

Singh took down Adamski 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 to put Virginia in position to clinch. Shabaz won two tight sets against Morgenstern at No. 4, 7-6(2), 6-4 to clinch the match for the Cavaliers.

Virginia went on to defeat Miami to win the ACC championship.

Next up, the NCAA tournament.

The team competition begins on campus sites on May 9-11 with the round of 16 and on being played at the University of Tulsa beginning on May 16.

The individual singles and doubles tournaments will take also take place in Tulsa following the team tournament. Parr and Forman are a virtual lock to be selected for the doubles tournament and will look to match Adamski and former Deac Todd Paul’s run to the semifinals last year.

“What Todd and Mariusz did was unbelievable,” Parr said. “Steve and I put ourselves in a great position to get as far as they did, however it is a really tough tournament playing the top doubles teams in the country.”

Forman and Parr were also two of 19 players who were named to the All-ACC team. It was Parr’s second year in a row of being selected and he was one of five repeat honorees.