The University of Mississippi Athletics
Southern Cal Dominates Virginia In NCAA Tennis Regional
5/12/2001 | Men's Tennis
May 12, 2001
OXFORD, Miss. - Southern California won the doubles point and carried that momentum into singles as they took out Virginia 4-0 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships Saturday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. The Trojans will face the top seed, Ole Miss in the final Sunday at Noon for the right to advance to the "Sweet Sixteen" in Athens, Ga.
Virginia won at No. 2 doubles and then Southern Cal prevailed at No. 3 doubles. That left the No. 1 doubles match, which featured the nation's top team, Brian Vahaly and Huntley Montgomery (Virginia) and the 2000 NCAA Doubles Finalist Nick Rainey and Ryan Moore (USC). The Trojan duo won 8-5 to clinch the point and give USC a 1-0 lead.
"I thought the guys did a good job," USC head coach Dick Leach said. "This is a new season, the real season. I was particularly pleased with Andrew Park, even though the match was stopped. Winning that first set was a good effort. Our No. 1 doubles team beating their top-ranked doubles team was probably the turning point in the match."
Southern Cal won the first set in all five singles contests. Ruben Torres dominated UVA's Brian Hunter 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5 singles and then Nick Rainey defeated Mike Duquette 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles to make it 3-0 Trojans. USC's Damien Spizzo clinched the victory with his 6-3, 6-3 win over Tommy Croker on court three.
Ole Miss and Southern Cal last met in the first round of the 1995 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., with the Rebels claiming a 4-3 win.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS - Oxford, Miss.
#2 Southern California 4#3 Virginia 0
SINGLES#1 Andrew Park (USC) vs. Brian Vahaly (UVA) 7-6, 0-1 USC sus.#2 Ryan Moore (USC) vs. Huntley Montgomery (UVA) 6-4, 2-3 USC, sus.#3 Damien Spizzo (USC) def. Tommy Croker (UVA) 6-3, 6-3#4 Nick Rainey (USC) def. Mike Duquette (UVA) 6-4, 6-1#5 Ruben Torres (USC) def. Brian Hunter (UVA) 6-1, 6-1#6 Parker Collins (USC) vs. Jason Romesburg (UVA) 6-3, 3-2 USC , sus.DOUBLES#1 Rainey-Moore (USC) def. Vahaly-Montgomery (UVA) 8-5#2 Croker-Duquette (UVA) def. Park-Spizzo (USC) 8-3#3 Collins-Torres (USC) def. Hunter-Jonathon Chou (UVA) 8-6
