Numbers can be deceiving.
At first glance, the No. 36 men’s tennis team’s record seems mediocre at best.
Sitting at 9-7 overall and 5-2 in the ACC, after splitting a pair of weekend matches at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center, Miami has really just begun its ascent.
On Friday afternoon, the Hurricanes dropped a tough 4-3 match to top-ranked Virginia (21-0, 6-0) when No. 23 Sanam Singh beat senior David Rosenfeld 6-2, 6-4 for the deciding point. The Cavaliers have five nationally-ranked players, two of whom were upset by their UM opponents.
“It was a close match, but we had them and everybody was pretty bummed out,” Rosenfeld said. “We had to bounce back.”
And that’s just what they did.
Despite rain halting competition, the Canes took all three doubles matches and quickly won four singles for a 5-0 upset over No. 21 Virginia Tech (11-3, 4-1) yesterday afternoon.
The doubles team of seniors Daniel Vallverdu and Rosenfeld improved to 4-2, while sophomores Keith Crowley and Carl Sundberg won their second doubles match.
“We feel like this team is getting better, and we feel like we still have room for improvement. I think it’s showing,” head coach Mario Rincon said. “Our doubles are getting better and the guys are getting more used to playing with each other.”
Crowley has now won four of five in singles, improving to 4-1 in ACC play, while his doubles partner, No. 90 Sundberg, leads the team with a 6-1 record in the conference. Freshman Ignacio Taboada snapped a six-game losing streak with a three-set victory.
But more importantly, Vallverdu and Rosenfeld appear to be back into the swing of things after missing the first half of the season.
“Everyone’s healthy right now. Thank God,” Rosenfeld said. “Next weekend is going to be key and decide our season.”
Miami heads on a two-game road trip starting Friday against No. 38 N.C. State (9-9, 3-3) and then faces No. 25 Wake Forest (14-6, 4-1) Sunday.
“It was another important ACC win for us and we felt like we had to win this one. Our guys played really well,” Rincon said. “Our guys are coming together and playing very well and we’re looking forward to the rest of the ACC.”