Men’s tennis advances to second round of NCAA Tournament

Freshman Ignacio Taboada won his eighth straight singles match and also clinched a 4-0 victory for No. 22 Miami over No. 53 Columbia on Friday afternoon in the first round of the Gainesville, Fla. NCAA regional.

He tied sophomore Keith Crowley, who also won his eighth consecutive match, for 23 wins on the season. In the process, Taboada became just the ninth Hurricane to earn 23 wins or more in his first season at UM.

The Hurricanes (15-8) will take on the winner of the match between No. 10 Florida and Marist.

“Our guys took advantage of early opportunities and were able to capitalize on them,” head coach Mario Rincon said. “With the temperature in the 90’s, I didn’t want them to be out there too long. We are looking forward to a great match tomorrow.”

Singles
1. Daniel Vallverdu (UM) vs. Jonathan Wong (COL), 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
2. David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Bogdan Borta (COL), 6-4, retired
3. Carl Sundberg (UM) vs. Mihai Nichifor (COL), 2-6, 4-5, unfinished
4. Keith Crowley (UM) def. Ekin Sezgen (COL), 6-3, 6-1
5. Christian Blocker (UM) vs. Haig Schneiderman (COL), 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
6. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Rajeev Deb-Sen (COL), 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 4, 6

Doubles
1. #38 Vallverdu/Rosenfeld (UM) def. Bogdan Borta/Mihai Nichifor (COL) 8-3
2. Wong/Schneiderman (COL) def. David Simon/Blocker (UM) 8-1
3. Sundberg/Crowley (UM) def. Dan Urban/Rajeev Deb-Sen (COL) 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3