Senior Sanam Singh recorded a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 match-winning victory against No. 8 Reid Carleton during the last matchup between Duke and Virginia in 2010. Photo by Grant Mathews

The undefeated No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team faces one of its toughest tests of the season this weekend, as the Cavaliers will face off against a star-studded No. 10 Duke squad tomorrow afternoon. The match marks the Cavaliers’ first appearance at the Snyder Tennis Courts and their first home match since Feb. 11.

Virginia (20-0, 5-0 ACC) enters the weekend bout fresh off of a dominating weekend of tennis, during which the squad downed No. 29 Miami and No. 46 Florida State with two 7-0 victories. The Cavaliers cruised through last weekend’s slate virtually unscathed, dropping only one set throughout the two matches. Furthermore, the Cavaliers seemed to work out the kinks that had hampered them in doubles play during their previous matches. The No. 3 doubles team of junior Drew Courtney and senior Michael Shabaz led the way for Virginia as they topped Florida State’s No. 15-ranked doubles team. During singles play, Shabaz also strung together two impressive performances to earn him ACC Player of the Week honors for the third consecutive week.

Perhaps now is the optimal time for the team to hit its stride as Duke (13-6, 4-0 ACC) comes to Charlottesville with high hopes of handing the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. The talented Blue Devil roster is highlighted by standout sophomore Henrique Cunha and senior Reid Carleton, who rank No. 6 and No. 8 at singles in the nation, respectively.

Cunha, a highly touted player from Brazil, is the reigning ACC Player of the Year. Before beginning his collegiate career, Cunha was once ranked as the No. 6 junior player in the world and has used his experiences on the world stage to dominate as a Blue Devil. During his freshman season, the Brazilian posted a 39-6 overall record and an 8-0 record in ACC play. Following the regular season, Cunha suffered a tough loss during October’s ITA All-American tournament against Virginia’s No. 2 freshman Alex Domjian in straight sets.

“Cunha has a lot of experience, [and] he’s already had a major impact in college tennis,” coach Brian Boland said. “He’s an extremely solid player off the ground, and he competes hard, and I would say the same for Carleton”

Carleton, meanwhile, is also a force to be reckoned with for Duke. During the Blue Devils’ most recent match against No. 44 Maryland, Carleton moved into a tie for 10th place all-time in singles victories at Duke with 93 wins. He, along with Cunha, finished last season as the top-ranked doubles team in the country.

“Reid is a really good counter-puncher, really quick, gets to a lot of balls,” senior Sanam Singh said. “He’s obviously a good player [and] uses his speed well.”

If the Cavaliers can contain the stellar duo in doubles play, they should be able to carry confidence into singles play. Boland believes the Cavaliers’ overall depth ­— five players are ranked in the top 50 nationally — may tip the scales in Virginia’s favor. Duke’s highest-ranked player after Cunha and Carleton enters the match at No. 123, and Virginia should be heavily favored on courts No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6.

Virginia also hopes that it will receive a home court advantage.

“Snyder is a little quicker than most courts,” Singh said. “We’re used to the courts, and hopefully we can take the momentum in the match.”

Following tomorrow’s match, the Cavaliers take on No. 17 North Carolina Sunday afternoon for another opportunity to topple a top-20 foe. The Tar Heels (9-4, 4-0 ACC) will enter the match winners of their last six matches. Sophomore Jose Hernandez, the No. 38 singles player in the country, should prove to be Virginia’s biggest challenge in singles play. The Cavaliers will need to be wary of any carryover of exhaustion from the Duke match if they hope to avoid a letdown against the Tar Heels. And with the ACC Tournament just three weeks away, Virginia knows it cannot afford to allow its opponents to build any momentum off an upset win in these final weeks of the regular season.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” Boland said. “We want to continue to focus on getting better and be pushed every day.”

The match against Duke is slated to begin at 3 p.m. Friday, while the tilt against North Carolina is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.

For the second time in the last five years, a No. 11-seeded CAA team from the state of Virginia is gearing up play for a berth in the NCAA basketball championship game. And with VCU fever sweeping the nation, I figure now is as good a time as any to recount my greatest sports memory.

In 2006, as a sophomore in high school, I attended what I would argue was the greatest college basketball game ever played — George Mason’s 86-84 overtime win against UConn. My dad got me two tickets, both about 20 feet behind one of the baskets, to see the entire east regional schedule. But looking at the draw — UConn, George Mason, Wichita State and Washington — we were not particularly excited about our chances of seeing close matchups or upsets. Like most everyone else, we thought we were about to witness a cakewalk by UConn. The old man was so indifferent toward the slate that he decided to skip out on Sunday afternoon’s game between Connecticut and George Mason and told me to invite a friend to come in his place.

And what a game to miss. George Mason, which was playing in front of essentially a home crowd, found itself down by nine at halftime. Despite the deficit, the Patriots came out and hit six three-pointers during the second half. The scrappy George Mason squad battled back against the more talented and more experienced Huskies to force overtime.

I still remember when UConn forward Denham Brown’s reverse layup fell through at the end of regulation after rolling around the rim for what seemed like 10 seconds or longer. I remember singing “Livin’ on a Prayer” — the official anthem of the Patriots despite the fact that it’s a terrible song — when the underdog George Mason team finally prevailed in overtime. And to this day, whenever I even mention the words “George Mason” to the friend I brought with me to the game, I basically can get whatever I want out of him. It’s that kind of magical moment like George Mason’s improbable win that makes the NCAA Tournament the best sporting event of the year. Yes, the NBA Playoffs might feature better basketball, but only four to six teams win year after year. Want proof? Ever since the Seattle SuperSonics were crowned champions in 1979, only eight different teams have won the title — the Lakers, 76ers, Celtics, Bulls, Pistons, Spurs, Rockets and Heat. And while I profess to love college football bowls, apparently I’m the only person who still watches them.

What makes the NCAA Tournament the best are those times when everybody throws out their brackets and starts rooting for the underdog. If you were watching the matchup between VCU and Kansas Sunday, you can’t possibly tell me that you were rooting for Kansas. That’s like rooting for Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies or — gulp! — the Yankees in a playoff series.

The love of the underdog is something that all people, even non-sports fans, can understand. After the VCU game Sunday, my grandmother called me, excitedly yelling into the phone. My grandmother, bless her heart, doesn’t even know more than three college teams — I have to remind her frequently that I go to Virginia and not Virginia Tech, which distresses me to no end.

But there she was, cheering along with everyone else who has watched VCU’s impressive run. If that’s not a statement about how wonderful the NCAA Tournament is, I don’t know what is.

The members of the Virginia baseball team had several reasons to celebrate Tuesday night’s victory against George Washington. The Cavaliers improved their record to 25-2 on the season with the 2-0 victory and saw junior pitcher Will Roberts toss the program’s first perfect game . Now, the Virginia squad will carry the positive energy earned from its most recent performance into this weekend’s road series against in-state foe Virginia Tech.

“You live up this moment and then we get right back to business again when we approach Friday,” junior second baseman Keith Werman said. “It’s a big, important series, as [it] always [is] with the ACC.”

Coach Brian O’Connor will warn the Cavaliers against becoming too complacent after Tuesday’s emotional game, especially against an intense rival such as the Hokies (14-13, 1-8 ACC). And although Virginia Tech has limped out to a poor record in conference play, O’Connor believes the Hokies are still a potential threat to the top-ranked Cavaliers.

“Virginia Tech had one of the better clubs in our league last year, and they return a fair amount of players,” O’Connor said.

Last season, the Hokies posted an impressive 40-22 record behind an offensive unit bolstered by redshirt senior shortstop Tim Smalling and redshirt senior second baseman Michael Seaborn. Both infielders have continued to lead the Hokies’ lineup this season and currently sport batting averages above .300.

From a pitching standpoint, Virginia Tech touts a staff that holds a collective 3.88 ERA. Senior ace Joe Parsons highlights the group with a 4-1 record and 2.43 ERA.

O’Connor indicated that the Hokies are mere inches from turning their season around and would like nothing more than to spark a mid-season run with a win against the Cavaliers — winners of 18 of 19 games during the month of March. This month, Virginia Tech lost five games by a one-run margin.

“They’ve been in a lot of games in the league and just haven’t quite gotten over the hump,” O’Connor said. “They’re in a situation where they’re fighting right now, and it’s something that we take seriously, so we’ll go down there Friday ready to play and hopefully we’ll come out with success.”

For the Cavaliers to avoid dropping a game against the Hokies, they will need to get the most out of each of their weekend pitchers. Junior Danny Hultzen is slated for the Friday start, while seniors Tyler Wilson and Cody Winiarski are scheduled to take the mound Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Hultzen boasts a team-best 1.12 ERA through 40.1 innings of work, and he will look to quiet the Hokies’ bats early to allow his squad to grab a momentum-building victory at the start of the three-game series.

“We’re looking at Friday night, getting another ACC Friday night win,” senior first baseman Kenny Swab said. “It’s Virginia Tech, so we’ll go out there and play hard, and win it.”

A week after earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week, junior defender Bailey Fogarty forced four Old Dominion turnovers and collected three draw controls. Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics

The No. 7 Virginia women’s lacrosse team rebounded from a disappointing 11-8 loss against Duke with a convincing 9-5 win at Old Dominion last night.

Freshman midfielder Dana Boyle notched her first career hat trick, while sophomore midfielder Caroline McTiernan contributed two more goals for the Cavaliers (6-4) en route to their third victory against an in-state opponent. Boyd and McTiernan were just two of the younger members of the squad who earned opportunities to take the field against Old Dominion (1-6). Freshmen midfielders Lauren Goerz and Leigh Ruland also saw action on the offensive side of the ball.

Junior attackers Charlie Finnigan and Ainsley Baker, meanwhile, were held out. Prior to coach Julie Myers’ decision to keep the two stars on the bench, Finnigan and Baker had scored in every game this season.

But even without two of their offensive leaders, the Cavaliers managed to build a 6-2 halftime lead because of an early offensive spurt. The Lady Monarchs, meanwhile, struggled to find any offensive consistency against goalkeeper Kim Kolarik. The sophomore limited Old Dominion to just three goals during the second half. Junior defender Bailey Fogarty — last week’s ACC Defensive Player of the Week — assisted Kolarik in front of the cage by forcing four turnovers.

The Cavaliers will continue their three-game road stint with games against Harvard and Boston College this weekend.

—compiled by Ian Rappaport