March 19, 2010
Results
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The No. 62 Maryland men's tennis team dropped its first match in more than a month on Friday, falling to No. 1 Virginia, 7-0.
The loss snapped a nine-match win streak for the Terps (13-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), whose losses have all come against ranked opponents.
"Virginia is a great program," said head coach Kyle Spencer. "There are only a few teams that can win the NCAA tournament, and they're one of them."
Virginia's Michael Shabaz, ranked third nationally for singles, defeated the Terps' 124th-ranked Tommy Laine at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-4, to clinch the match for the Cavaliers (18-1, 3-0 ACC).
The most compelling match of the day was played at No. 4 singles. Maryland's John Collins won the first set against Houston Barrick, the 87th-ranked singles player in the nation, but couldn't hold on and lost in heartbreaking fashion, 1-6, 7-6 (10-8), 1-0 (10-3).
Despite the loss, Spencer praised his team for their performance against such a formidable opponent.
"Our guys fought very hard today," Spencer said. "I'm pleased with the effort we gave."
The Terps will look to rebound on Sunday, when they hit the road to take on No. 22 Virginia Tech. The match will start at 10 a.m. at the Burrows/Burleson Tennis Center in Blacksburg, Va.
