Sports > April 17, 2008

By Alex Botoman | Staff writer

The No. 30 ranked men’s tennis team split their final matches of the regular season in Virginia as they took down No. 29 Virginia Tech but was defeated by No.1 ranked Virginia. The Deacons finished the regular season in fourth place in the ACC with a record of 16-9 (7-4).

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The men’s tennis team will prepare for the ACC Tournament, held in Altamonte Springs, Fla., April 18-20, where the team has a bye the first round. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

Wake began the road trip with a narrow 4-3 victory over Virginia Tech on April 11.

Head Coach Jeff Zinn split up his top doubles team of sophomore Steve Forman and junior Cory Parr, but the strategy did not pay off as the Hokies swept the doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead.

Parr paired with freshman Jonathan Wolff at No. 2 doubles, but the duo was defeated 8-3 by Nicolas Delgado de Robles and Albert Larregola.

Virginia Tech clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 victory at No. 1 by Brandon Corace and Pedro Graber over Forman and senior Mariusz Adamski.

The Hokies also picked up the win at No. 3 doubles, as Wake sophomore Andrew Brasseaux and junior Carlos Salmon went down to Sebasties Jacques and Yoann Re.

The Deacs came out inspired in the singles matches and were quickly back in the lead.

At No. 1 singles No. 86 ranked Forman easily upset No. 40 ranked Larregola 6-2, 6-3.

No. 58 Parr notched a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Delgado de Robles at No. 2 to put the Deacons ahead.

Adamski stretched Wake’s lead out to 3-1 by making short work of Re at No. 3 singles, winning 6-3, 6-1.

However, the match was far from in the bag for the Demon Deacons. The Hokies’ Jacques picked up a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Wolff at No. 5 to narrow Wake’s lead.

Corace pulled Virginia Tech even at 3-3 by virtue of his hard fought 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Brasseaux at No. 6 singles. This left the match to be decided by the No. 4 singles match between Deacon sophomore Jason Morgenstern and the Hokies’ Graber. The two played three tight sets, but in the end Morgenstern prevailed 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to clinch the match for Wake Forest.

The Deacons continued their road trip at Virginia April 13. The Cavaliers entered the match as the No. 1-ranked team in the country and boasted the four ranked singles players including the No. 1 overall player in the country in Somdev Devvarman, as well as the No. 1 doubles team in the country in Devvarman and Treat Huey.

Wake could not capture the energy of their match against Virginia Tech as they couldn’t manage to win a set against the Cavaliers.

The Deacs put up a good fight in the doubles matches.

At No. 1 doubles, Devvarman and Huey took down Wake’s No. 11 pair of Parr and Forman 8-6.

Virginia clinched the doubles point when Ted Angelinos and Lee Singer defeated Wolff and Morgenstern 8-4 at the No. 3 position.

The Cavaliers tacked on another win at No. 2 as Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz knocked off Salmon and Adamski 9-7.

Virginia stormed through the singles matches to easily win the match 7-0.

At No. 2 singles No. 31 Huey dominated No. 58 Parr 6-0, 6-3.

No. 102-ranked Houston Barrick swept past Brasseaux 6-1, 6-1 to put the Cavaliers up 3-0. Shabaz clinched the match for Virginia with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Morgenstern at No. 4.

Virginia also picked up straight set wins at No. 1, 3 and 5, with Forman, Adamski and Wolff, respectively, losing for Wake.

The Deacons will head to Florida April 18-20 for the ACC Tournament, which is being held in Altamonte Springs. Wake enters as the No. 4 seed and will have a bye in the first round.

The Deacs will begin play on April 18 against the winner of No. 5 seed Virginia Tech vs. No. 12 seed Clemson.