The Virginia men's tennis team delivered another strong performance yesterday, as the Cavaliers took the doubles point early and went on to dominate James Madison 7-0, winning their second straight and four out of five.
The Cavaliers used the strong combination of Jay Curtis and Dillon Walker to jump out on top of the three doubles matches, dominating the Dukes' Colin Malcolm and Clint Morse, 8-1. Junior Mike Duquette and freshman Stephen Nolan, Virginia's No. 1 and 2 seeds, quickly scooped up the doubles point.
"The critical thing is how well we have been playing doubles," coach Brian Boland said. "They are setting up momentum for when they move into singles. We have really been playing doubles well of late and that is showing in the results."
Jason Romesburg and Jonathan Chou provided the most exciting doubles match - they fell behind early 1-4 to James Madison's Michael Hendricksen and Bryan Knehr, but rallied back to win 9-7 going into the singles matches.
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With a one-point lead under their belts, No. 3 seed Jason Romesburg got the Cavaliers going in the singles matches and defeated Knehr 6-0, 6-0 to pick up the second point for Virginia. The end of this match came with some of the singles matches just entering their second set.
"We had some momentum going into the singles and we got on the board pretty fast," Boland said. "The players' improvement in doubles has lead to much better play in the singles and our success as a whole."
Freshman Jay Curtis, playing as the Cavaliers' fourth seed, also played a great match as he dispatched Malcolm 6-0, 6-2 to give the Cavaliers their third point and a 3-0 lead in the match.
Boland used a different lineup from the one he threw out in the last match against Georgetown, moving senior Dan Lempa into the No. 6 seed and freshman Greg Alpert up to the No. 4 spot.
It was a freshman that ultimately secured the match for the Cavaliers - No. 2 seed Stephen Nolen took out Hendricksen 6-1, 6-2. Nolen came back from 0-2 in the second set to win six straight games and secure Virginia the win over James Madison.
Even though that match technically clinched a Cavalier victory, the matches continued. The last three proved to be the most exciting of the day as Alpert and Lempa played tough tennis, coming up with 6-4, 6-4 and 6-2, 7-5 victories respectively.
The match of the day came at the very end , however, when No. 1 seed Michael Duquette avenged a loss against one of the state's top players in Andrew Lux, who took him out in the fall season.
After losing the first set 4-6, Duquette battled back to take all six games in the second set, before coming up big in the third set, winning it 6-3.
"It gives me a lot of confidence," Duquette said. "I noticed he was getting a little tired at the end and I was able to get in his head a little bit. We're going into a big weekend and it's important to get our confidence up because we will be playing some good competition."
The Cavaliers indeed have a big weekend because they host powerhouses Wake Forest and Duke on Saturday and Sunday. Virginia has lost its only conference game this season, but the players remain certain they can come up with some big wins with a renewed sense of confidence, and Boland said he is excited by the way his team, and especially his No. 1 seed, looks going into the weekend matches.
"You have seen major strides from Mike over the last five months," Boland said. "I am really happy with the way he has played lately and I think it has had an effect on our other players. Our entire team is very excited and confident going into this big weekend"
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