Men’s Tennis
What: No. 1 Virginia (2-0) vs. Elon (2-2), Furman (1-2)
When: Saturday 12:00 p.m.; Saturday 5:00 p.m.
Where: Charlottesville, VA (Boar’s Head Sports Club)
The Skinny: The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team was in top form last weekend with dominant season-opening victories against Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky. The Cavaliers will look to maintain their momentum this Saturday as they host a doubleheader matchup against Elon and Furman.
The Cavaliers will first face Elon at noon. The Phoenix are a young team with six true freshmen and just one senior on its 10-man roster. However, Elon is on a two-match win streak with victories against Barton and Bluefield College.
Furthermore, the Phoenix have experience facing nationally ranked opponents, in losses against No. 13 Duke and No. 40 N.C. State. Freshmen Mario Paccini and Felipe Sarrasague headline the team.
Later Saturday, Virginia will face Furman at 5:00 p.m. The Paladins are looking to build off last season, which resulted in a 10-16 record, good enough for a second-place finish in the Southern Conference. After dropping its first two matches at Vanderbilt and Georgia State, Furman bounced back to win last Friday against Presbyterian. The Paladins are coached by Kelly Jones, a member of the ITA Men’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame, and led by junior Adam Steryous and senior Ben Horst.
As the defending national champions, the Cavaliers have a strong sense of urgency. The ITA National Team Indoor Championships are scheduled for the following weekend, a tournament that includes 16 teams, all of which are ranked in the nation’s top 20. Top Virginia players like junior Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, currently the second-ranked singles player in men’s DI tennis, and senior Ryan Shane, the defending national singles champion and currently No. 11, will look to make sure the team performs well Saturday to capture momentum as they head to the ITA Championships. Expect the Cavaliers to play with high energy in what should be a great day of tennis.
—compiled by Jack Gallagher
Women’s Tennis
What: ITA National Team Indoor Championships
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Madison, WI (Nielsen Tennis Center)
The Skinny: The Virginia women’s tennis team heads to Madison, Wis. for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to face Texas A&M Friday evening in the first round of the single-elimination tournament.
The 16-team tournament is comprised of teams who won individual regional brackets during the ITA Kickoff Weekend late January. Virginia claimed its spot by defeating Brigham Young and Columbia — with a full roster — in their bracket in consecutive days. The Cavaliers hosted the matches in Charlottesville.
Virginia will potentially be without five of its players — seniors Maci Epstein and Skylar Morton, junior Victoria Olivarez, sophomore Cassie Mercer and freshman Meghan Kelley — who were suspended last Friday for violating team rules the night of Jan. 23 after their match against Columbia. The team has not yet released whether any of the players will be eligible to play or whether they will travel with the team.
The Cavaliers (3-1) suffered their first loss of the new season last Friday in Charlottesville against South Carolina, 3-4, after they were forced to forfeit two separate individual matches because of their shorthanded personnel.
Virginia will be in need of its suspended players for the opening match against Texas A&M, which, despite being ranked behind Virginia in the latest NCAA poll, is the five-seed in the tournament. The winner of that match is slated to play the winner of the matchup between fourth-seeded California and host Wisconsin.
The four-day tournament runs through Feb. 8, the day of the championship match. Virginia and Texas A&M take the courts at 6:30 central time Friday night.
—compiled by Grayson Kemper
Swimming & Diving
What: Virginia at Richmond (women’s diving only) and James Madison (diving only)
Where: Richmond and Harrisonburg
When: Friday, Feb. 5 and Saturday, Feb. 6
The Skinny: In a season in which much of the spotlight has been on Virginia’s swimming teams, the diving teams will take action in their first and only solo tournaments this season.
The women’s diving team will travel Friday to take on the Spiders’ female divers. The Cavalier women will look for leadership from seniors Becca Corbett and Katie Warburg, who hold Virginia records in platform dive and 3-meter dive, respectively. Meanwhile, Richmond junior Irina Chiulli holds her own school’s record in the 3-meter dive.
The following day, the men’s diving team will rejoin the women in Harrisonburg to face the JMU.
These are the last matches of the regular season for Virginia’s diving teams. On Feb. 17 and Feb. 24, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, respectively, will head down to Greensboro, N.C. to compete in the ACC Championships.
—compiled by Ben Tobin
Indoor Track and Field
What: Doc Hale Elite Meet
Where: Rector Field House, Blacksburg, Va.
When: Friday and Saturday
The Skinny: After a strong performance in Boston at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational, the Virginia indoor track and field team will send a group of runners to Blacksburg to compete in the Doc Hale Elite Meet.
The Cavaliers will rely on its runners who performed well last week, such as junior distance runners Zach Herriott and Henry Wynne, to keep the momentum going in the Cavaliers’ favor.
After this week, some Cavaliers will travel to Staten Island, N.Y. to compete in the Fastrack National Qualifier Invite against a large field of competitors.
—compiled by Ben Tobin
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