Feb. 27, 2008

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The No. 26 University of Miami men's tennis team defeated Furman, 5-2, Wednesday afternoon at Neil Schiff Tennis Center to improve to 5-0 at home this season and 6-2 overall heading into Atlantic Coast Conference play next week.

The Hurricanes were again led at the top by No. 4 Daniel Vallverdu, who won his seventh match in eight tries this spring at the No. 1 position for UM with a dominant 6-4, 6-0 win over Andy Juc to put the `Canes up 2-1 early on over the Paladins (1-8).

J.C. Whitner won UM's third point with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the No. 5 spot over Jordan Walters before Carl Sundberg won the clincher in the No. 5 position over Chris Motes, 6-3, 6-4.

"Carl, J.C. and Dani all played very well today," head coach Mario Rincon said. "It wasn't ideal conditions with it being a cold, windy afternoon but we did a good job of playing through it."

The Hurricanes opened the match winning the doubles point against the Paladins. David Rosenfeld and Vivek Subramanian won 8-4 in the No. 2 position and after Furman's Bo Ladyman and Jason Basile evened the doubles point up at 1-1, the No. 10 duo of Vallverdu and Carl Sundberg won 8-5 at No. 1 versus Chris Rhyne and Andrei Chvetzov.

"We know how important it is to get ahead early," Rincon said. "It put us in great shape when we came out and won the doubles point."

Furman would tie it back up when Sawyer Duncan picked up a 6-1, 6-0 win at the No. 6 position but Vallverdu's win at No. 1 put UM up for good as they would go on to win three of the final four singles matches.

Subramanian won the Hurricanes' fifth and final point with a 6-8, 6-1, 10-4 win at No. 3.

Furman's Daniel Knause and Sawyer Duncan picked up the Paladin's two points in the second and sixth positions respectively.

The `Canes will open ACC play next weekend when they play at Georgia Tech Friday, March 7 at 2:30 p.m. and at Clemson Sunday, March 9 at 1 p.m.

No. 26 Miami 5, Furman 2

Singles

1. No. 4 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. Chris Rhyne (Furman), 6-4, 6-0

2. Bo Ladyman (Furman) def. David Rosenfeld (UM), 6-4, 6-1

3. Vivek Subramanian (UM) def. Daniel Knause (Furman), 6-8, 6-1,10-4

4. Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Chris Motes (Furman), 6-3, 6-4

5. J.C. Whitner (UM) Jordan Walters (Furman), 6-4, 6-2

6. Sawyer Duncan (Furman) def. Hector Nieto (UM), 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish: 6, 1, 5, 4*, 2, 3

Doubles

1. No. 10 Daniel Vallverdu/Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Chris Rhyne/Andrei Chvetsov (Furman), 8-5

2. David Rosenfeld/Vivek Subramanian (UM) def. Chris Motes/Andy Juc (Furman), 8-4

3. Bo Ladyman/Jason Basile (Furman) def. J.C. Whitner/Barnabas Carrega (UM), 8-3

 Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*