The No. 1 Virginia men's tennis team is set to come off bye-week with its second weekend of outdoor matchups against Maryland, Baylor and Gardner-Webb.
Thus far, the Cavaliers have transitioned successfully from the indoor court to outdoor play, which began March 5 in a doubleheader against Old Dominion and Georgetown. Virginia swept both squads 8-0 and 9-0, respectively.
"I think it's a tribute to them and their ability to stay composed and be patient with it," coach Brian Boland said. "They've done a really good job and been extremely positive."
The team hopes to continues its success against its first trip of the weekend to face off against the Terrapins (13-2, 1-0), who "should be a challenging ACC match," Boland said.
Similarly, No. 2 singles player Sanam Singh expects a "long day on Friday."
Regardless, Singh remains optimistic about Virginia's chances, despite still being in transition to outdoor conditions.
"I feel that we've had two to three good weeks of practice," he said. "All the guys are looking good."
The match will feature the same look for the Cavaliers' doubles line-up as featured March 7 against then-No. 4 Texas. Drew Courtney and Michael Shabaz, ranked 17th, will continue to occupy No. 1 doubles. Meanwhile, the No. 19 duo of Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh will play at the No. 2 spot, while 41st-ranked Jarmere Jenkins and Lee Singer will continue at the No. 3 spot after pulling off an upset against No. 19 Jean Andersen and Daniel Whitehead, 8-5.
"We're on a little doubles streak, so hopefully, [we'll] keep winning those doubles matches," Shabaz said.
Boland had played with the doubles line-up throughout the season, which may have negatively impacted the team, before deeming the current pairings as successful.
"We struggled to find the right chemistry for quite some time, and that's actually been one of the changes this year that we haven't had in the past," he said. "I think we're where we need to be."
The Cavaliers hope that the doubles pairings will prove helpful during Sunday afternoon's matchup with Baylor, which likely will be the most difficult match of the weekend. The Bears (12-2) jumped from 16th to eighth in the ITA rankings recently.
"They're certainly going to pose challenges for us," Boland said. "They are extremely deep, much like we are."
It will be key for each individual player to contribute to the team effort for Virginia to emerge successful, Shabaz said.
"Overall I think a good team performance is key," he said.
Virginia will round out the weekend with a match against Gardner-Webb at 5 p.m. Sunday, following the Baylor match.
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