For the second consecutive year, the Virginia men’s tennis team has marched through its regular season undefeated and mostly unchallenged. A 4-3 battle here, a 5-2 test there — the Cavaliers rarely were threatened during the 2008-09 campaign. The Cavaliers now will try to maintain this perfect record in the postseason, beginning with the ACC tournament this weekend as the No. 1 seed.
“It’s a great accomplishment, and I’m certainly proud of the success we’ve had thus far,” Virginia coach Brian Boland said. “But I think everyone on the team understands that the hard work is in front of us — we certainly should use that as momentum as we go into the postseason. This is what we work for — to have the opportunity to play in the postseason at a high level.”
Coming off a pair of 6-1 victories against then-No. 25 Wake Forest and then-No. 51 North Carolina State last weekend, the No. 1 Cavaliers (26-0, 11-0 ACC) will begin play Friday after a first-round bye. Virginia awaits the winner of Thursday’s match between No. 8 seed North Carolina and No. 9 seed Clemson.
The Cavaliers beat both teams decisively at home in their regular season matchups, first downing the Tigers 6-1 March 20, and later sweeping the Tar Heels 7-0 on senior day.
Virginia is not expecting to defeat its opponents as easily this time, however, as the matches will be played at a neutral site in Cary, N.C.
“We played both teams at home here — that helps a little bit,” sophomore Michael Shabaz said. “It’s neutral grounds — everyone’s going to be ready to play — hopefully we can just carry over what we’ve done the last few weeks into the ACC Tournament.”
Virginia’s lineup and strategy also may alter slightly. After playing in the No. 2 doubles slot for the majority of the season, the duo of senior Dominic Inglot and Shabaz — ranked No. 13 in the nation — will play in the No. 1 spot during the tournament. The former top team, composed of sophomore Sanam Singh and junior Houston Barrick, will move to No. 2 doubles.
“Both teams play at an extremely high level,” Boland said. “Regardless, they can both play [No.] 1 or [No.] 2 ... Dom and Michael have been playing well at [No.] 1, so we just stuck with them.”
Boland has experimented with the switch during the past few weeks, with mostly strong results. In outdoor play at the No. 1 spot, Inglot and Shabaz have compiled a 6-1 record, including wins against Clemson, Miami and Florida State. The pair’s only loss came against North Carolina’s then-No. 27-ranked team of junior Clay Donato and senior Taylor Fogleman. They bounced back, however, by topping the then-No. 1 doubles team in the nation, Wake Forest’s tandem of senior Cory Parr and junior Steve Forman, in an 8-6 road victory. They then notched another win against N.C. State the following day, 9-8.
“It’s been all right so far,” Shabaz said, referring to the team’s performance in No. 1 doubles. “We had a good past weekend — hopefully we can take the confidence from the two wins and get better in the ACC Tournament [because] we could play those guys again.”
Meanwhile, Singh and Barrick — ranked No. 6 nationally — have thrived in the No. 2 slot, posting a 6-0 record in outdoor contests. Singh said both teams are comfortable in either position.
“Michael and Dom and Houston and I are at the same level — any of us can play [No.] 1 or [No.] 2,” Singh said. “We keep switching it up because of matchups and rankings — and we leave that on the court and go out and play.”
But Inglot’s shaky play at No. 1 singles may be a concern for the Cavaliers. The senior dropped both matches during the weekend and suffered a “tweaked wrist,” doubles partner Shabaz said. Boland said, however, that Inglot has “fully recovered.”
Still, it remains to be seen whether Inglot will be completely healthy Friday. He did not practice Tuesday and has dealt with a slew of injuries throughout the season, ranging from shoulder pain to a stomach ailment. It took three exhaustive sets for Inglot to put away North Carolina’s Donato in singles when healthy, so the added strain of a wrist injury may prove costly for the senior.
If Virginia can overcome this setback and reach the tournament finals, it could face either No. 4 seed Florida State or No. 2 seed Miami, both of which the Cavaliers defeated in 4-3 thrillers this season. The Hurricanes took the Cavaliers to the wire during their regular season meeting, climbing back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the match at 3-3, until Singh clinched the victory at the No. 2 spot. The Seminoles, meanwhile, provided another scare during the following match, striking down both Inglot and Singh in the top two singles matchups. Despite these missteps, Virginia secured the victory with wins from Shabaz, Barrick and freshman Drew Courtney.
But the potential for a rematch has not fazed Boland, who said he remains focused on the team’s first match.
“I didn’t even know that was the bracket — I’m glad you told me that,” Boland said. “I don’t know. Right now, it’s Clemson or North Carolina.”
Shabaz, fully aware of the tournament setup, said he is confident the Cavaliers would prevail in a potential rematch.
“When we played them, we played at their house, so that definitely helped them,” Shabaz said. “Hopefully, if we do play them down the road, then it’s not as close as the prior matches. I think it will help us that we’re on neutral grounds because I think we are the better team, and we’ve proven that so far.”
Although top-ranked Virginia appears to be the favorite heading into the tournament, Singh noted that the higher stakes may elevate the other teams’ play.
“It’s always different with regular season and the tournament,” Singh said. “Even if we beat those teams [easily] in the regular season, sometimes it can get tight in the tournament because it’s a different atmosphere, and we’re playing for something more than just a normal dual match.”
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