Rainey and Moore Challenge For NCAA Title
May 27, 2000 | Men's Tennis
May 27, 2000
ATHENS, Ga. -- With a convincing victory over fifth-ranked Doug Root and Ramsey Smith of Duke, USC's 11th-ranked duo of Nicholas Rainey and Ryan Moore advances to the final match of the 2000 NCAA Doubles Championship. The title match will be played tomorrow, May 28, at Georgia's Henry Field Stadium following the completion of the singles championship match at 1 p.m. (EST).
Ranked as high as No. 4 throughout the season, Rainey and Moore's outstanding season had begun to suffer towards the end. After dropping their last four regular season matches, the duo entered the NCAA tournament unseeded but hoping to finish strong.
"We had ended the year on a sour note with four or five conference losses in a row. We expected to hit things well going into the tournament, " said Moore. "But we didn't expect to hit it this well."
With a 33-9 overall record to date, the two-year partners defeated No. 45 Scott Bornstein and Ahn-Ahn Lui of Princeton in the first round, 6-3, 6-2. In the second round, they posted a 6-3, 7-5 win over 5-8 seed and 16th-ranked Toby Hansson and Jon Wallmark of SMU.
The challenge really began in the tournament quarterfinals as Rainey and Moore faced No. 13 Leif Meineke and Wesley Moodie of Boise State. Meineke and Moodie started strong with a 6-4 win in the first set and a quick lead in the second. But USC's sophomores responded, claiming a 7-6 (7) tiebreaker in the second set, and repeating the performance in the third, 7-6 (3).
In the semifinal round, which began today (May 27) at 5 p.m. EST, the Trojan duo faced their first higher ranked opponent of the tournament. Posting a 6-4, 6-4 convincing victory, USC upset Root and Smith to advance to the finals. Rainey and Moore will face 25th-ranked Cary Franklin and Garydon Oliver of Illinois who defeated No. 18 Vikrant Chadha and James Shortall of Mississippi in the semifinals.
"We aimed for this tournament to be a big one," said Moore "At the beginning of the year, we aimed for this tournament and right now, I think that we're peaking at the right time."
Tournament Results
First Round
def. Bornstein/Lui (Princeton) - 6-3, 6-2
Round of 16
def. Hansson/Wallmark (SMU) - 6-3, 7-5
Quarterfinal
def. Meineke/Moodie (Boise State) - 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3)
Semifinal
def. Root/Smith (Duke) - 6-4, 6-4
Championship (May 28)
Rainey/Moore vs. Franklin/Oliver (Illinois)
