February 4, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Virginia Tech men's tennis got back on the winning track Sunday with a 4-3 victory over No. 65 Vanderbilt. The Hokies improved to 5-1 with the win while the Commodores fell to 3-2.

Tech, ranked No. 53 nationally, won the doubles point by sweeping all three contests, then took three of the matches in the singles competition to clinch the victory. After taking the doubles point, the Hokies quickly increased their advantage to 3-0 with easy victories as No. 87 Nicolas Delgado (So., Madrid, Spain) blanked 97^th-ranked Evan Dufaux, 6-0, 6-0, in the No. 2 match and No. 70 Albert Larregola (Jr., Lleida, Spain) crushed Vijay Paul, 6-0, 6-1, in the No 3 contest. Vanderbilt got on the board with a win at No. 5 as Andy Mack defeated Brandon Corace (So., Naples, Fla.), 7-5, 6-4, but the Hokies clinched the victory at No. 1 as No. 67 Arvid Puranen (Sr., Lulea, Sweden) beat Nik Cromydas, 7-5, 6-2.

In other singles results, Yoann Re (Fr., Verdun, Quebec) lost his No 4 match, 7-5, 7-5, against Nathan Sachs and Pedro Graber (Fr., Santiago, Chile) lost to James Moye, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6.

In doubles competition, Tech won at No. 2 as Corace/Puranen defeated Cromydas/Paul, 8-4 then clinched the point when Delgado/Graber outlasted Dufaux/Mack in the No. 1 contest, 9-8 (8). The Hokies completed the doubles sweet as Larregola/Re cruised at No. 3 with an 8-5 victory over Moye/Sachs.

The Hokies return to action at home on Sunday, Feb. 11, with the ACC-opener at noon against Boston College.

No. 53 Virginia Tech 4, No. 65 Vanderbilt 3
Singles
1. #67 Arvid Puranen (VT) def. Nik Cromydas (VU) 7-5, 6-2*
2. #87 Nicolas Delgado (VT) def. #97 Evan Dufaux (VU) 6-0, 6-0
3. #70 Albert Larregola (VT) def. Vijay Paul (VU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Nathan Sachs (VU) def. Yoann Re (VT) 7-5, 7-5
5. Andy Mack (VU) def. Brandon Corace (VT) 7-5, 6-4
6. James Moye (VU) def. Pedro Graber (VT) 6-3, 64
Order of finish: 2,3,5,1*, 4, 6

Doubles
1. Delgado/Graber (VT) def. Dufaux/Mack (VU) 9-8 (8)*
2. Corace/Puranen (VT) def. Cromydas/Paul (VU) 8-4
3. Larregola/Re (VT) def. Moye/Sachs (VU) 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 1*, 3

*clinching match