The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team continued its regular-season dominance this weekend, easily cruising past No. 15 Illinois Friday by a 6-1 count and dispatching No. 30 Notre Dame and unranked Belmont yesterday 7-0 and 5-2, respectively.
Against Illinois (3-1), Virginia (4-0) picked up the doubles point, winning all three matches, though not without a fight. At the No. 1 position, the No. 3-ranked team of sophomore Sanam Singh and junior Houston Barrick downed its opponents 8-5, while at the No. 3 position, freshman Drew Courtney and junior Lee Singer defeated their opponents by the same score. The No. 2 position saw a closely contested battle between No. 27-ranked duo senior Dominic Inglot and sophomore Michael Shabaz and the Fighting Illini duo of freshmen Dennis Nevolo and Ruan Roelofse, with the Cavalier pair emerging with the 9-8 win following a 7-3 tiebreaker.
In singles, Virginia claimed the win against Illinois with straight-set wins by No. 43 Inglot, No. 24 Singh and No. 68 Barrick. No. 11 Shabaz was the only Cavalier to need three sets to win his singles match, and Courtney was the only Cavalier to lose.
In addition to Virginia’s success, fans were treated to a jersey retirement ceremony between singles and doubles play for Cavalier great Somdev Devvarman, who was on hand to witness the occasion. Devvarman is the first Virginia men’s tennis player to receive that honor.
The doubles point against the Fighting Irish (1-2) saw more of the same strong Cavalier play as Virginia claimed the point with an 8-4 win by Singh and Barrick and an 8-2 win by Courtney and Singer. Again, the No. 2 spot was closely contested, but Inglot and Shabaz pulled out the slim 8-7 win after a 9-7 tiebreaker.
Virginia carried its momentum in singles play, in which the Cavaliers won every match. Only one, Inglot against No. 20 senior Brett Helgeson, went to a third set.
Against Belmont (0-0), Virginia had little trouble coasting to a win, sweeping all three doubles matches. Shabaz, Singh, Barrick and freshman David Nguyen all won two-set victories in singles. Sophomore Felipe Cirne-Lima and freshman Rodrigo Amaral both picked up wins for the Bruins.
—compiled by Aaron Perryman
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