The Cavaliers (9-9) now sit at .500 for the season, and 0-4 in ACC play. The squad was led by a freshman in last night\'d5s 5-2 loss to American as Stephen Nolen picked up the first singles point. Senior Jonathan Chou also chipped in, picking up a win at number four singles. Nolen and Chou both won in straight sets.
American, however, set the tone early by winning two of the three doubles matches to scoop up the doubles point, before going on to win four of the six singles matches. Virginia\'d5s youth movement caught up with them recen\plain\f3\fs19 tly \'d1 they have failed to win a match since a 6-2 victory over Richmond in late March. The Cavaliers will look to buck that trend when they take on a similarly young N.C. State contingent.
Virginia faces a team that has struggled of late as well, with the Wolfpack losing eight in a row, and 11 of their last 12 matches. N.C. State is 4-14 on the season, with their only wins coming against less competitive opponents Oral Roberts and Appalachian State.
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The Wolfpack have put up a good fight during most of their matches, though the results don\'d5t always indicate as such. A week ago N.C. State won two singles matches against the No. 38 ranked Miami Hurricanes, before going\plain\f3\fs19 on to lose the match 5-2.
The Wolfpack have been pleased with the play of their No. 2 and 3 seeds, as they\'d5ve stayed with higher ranked opponents in the last few matches, including a match against Duke in which R.J. Murray beat No. 123 ranked on Zimmerman in straight sets.
Coach Brian Boland recognizes that every team poses a challenge in the ACC this season.
"We cant look past anybody this season," Boland said. "We really have to stay focused and fight through every match. Since we are such a young team we have to make sure we are well prepared before all of our matches."
Junior No. 1 seed Mike Duquette acknowledged it can be difficult when the team enters a losing streak, but understands the team slowly is coming together and all the hard work will pay off in the future.
"We have had a lot of ups and downs this season",Duquette said. "But we lost four of our top players from last season, and we are still learning as a team with the young guys just starting to come into their own. I really believe we are heading in the right direction."
The Cavaliers will hope to continue in that direction with a big win over a solid Wolfpack squad in one of their last home games of the season.
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