Clemson Men’s Tennis Upsets Virginia, Advances To ACC Championship Match

April 21, 2001

ORLANDO, Fla. –

The seventh-seeded Clemson Tigers advancd to the finals of the 2001 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Tennis Championship held at the Lake Cane Tennis Center in Orlando, Fla. with an 4-3 upset victory over 44th-ranked Virginia on Saturday afternoon. The upset was the second in as many days for the Tigers, whose Cinderella run in the ACC Tournament will conclude on Sunday afternoon in the championship match against top-seeded and third-ranked Duke. During the regular season, Clemson lost to Virginia in Charlottesville by a 5-2 margin.

The Tigers got off to a quick start against the Cavaliers by winning two out of three doubles matches and capturing the doubles point. That doubles point would end up being the deciding point of the match. At number-two doubles, Clemson’s pair of Josh Goffi and Marko Gojanovic won a thrilling 10-8 match over Virginia’s duo of Tommy Croker and Mike Duquette. Clemson also picked up a doubles win in the number-three slot as Eric Cohn and true freshman Lee Taylor Walker defeated Brian Hunter and Jonathan Chou by a score of 8-3.

After Clemson captured the doubles point, the Tigers and Cavaliers split the six singles matches. After competing in only 12 dual singles during the regular season, Clemson’s Darren Knight captured his third straight singles win in this year’s tournament by defeating Virginia’s Crocker in the number-three position 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. Gojanovic won in the number-four slot for the Tigers as he won his match over Duquette in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Walker also won his third singles match of the tournament with a 6-2, 6-4 win over the Cavaliers Jason Romesburg.

Clemson improves its record to 8-19 while Virginia drops to 14-7. The Tigers championship match against the Blue Devils will begin tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Clemson will be looking to claim its 12th ACC Tournament in school history and the first since 1997. Duke defeated Clemson 7-0 earlier this season, and the Blue Devils enter Sunday’s championship match with four nationally ranked singles players and three nationally ranked doubles teams.

Clemson 4, Virginia 3

Singles No. 1 – Brian Vahaly (UVa) d. Josh Goffi 6-2, 6-2 No. 2 – Huntley Montgomery (UVa) d. Brad Emendorfer 6-1, 6-4 No. 3 – Darren Knight (CU) d. Tommy Croker 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3 No. 4 – Marko Gojanovic (CU) d. Mike Duquette 6-3, 6-4 No. 5 – Brian Hunter (UVa) d. Micah Thompson 6-4, 6-2 No. 6 – Lee Taylor Walker (CU) d. Jason Romesburg 6-2, 6-4

Doubles No. 1 – Montgomery/Vahaly (UVa) d. Emendorfer/Knight 8-4 No. 2 – Goffi/Gojanovic (CU) d. Croker/Duquette 10-8 No. 3 – Cohn/Walker (CU) d. Hunter/Chou 8-3