No. 5 Virginia will enter the ACC tournament hungry for victory after suffering their fourth straight loss Tuesday afternoon to Virginia Tech. The loss brings the men's tennis regular season record to 20-7 (4-4 ACC).
Virginia is slated to meet No. 4 Wake Forest in the first round Friday in Raleigh, N.C. and if they progress to the semifinal round, will face the victor of the No. 1 Duke-No. 9 Maryland meeting.
The Cavaliers recorded a win over Wake Forest March 22 in Winston-Salem, which was their second of four conference wins.
Having fallen 4-3 in the past three matches, and taking equally difficult losses in several prior matches, the Cavaliers now are focusing on clinching the crucial point that could throw a battle in their favor. Following Tuesday's 4-3 loss to Virginia Tech, the need to establish this focus became clear to Virginia.
"After losing three matches so closely, we just have to go back and start practicing like brand new for the ACC tournament, regardless of previous performance," freshman Rylan Rizza said. "We're just going to try to beat Wake Forest and see if we can go from there. We know it's going to happen. One of us will finally step up and win that match to get to 4-3."
This year's ACC tournament will be a new experience for the majority of this young team. Four of Virginia's top six courts currently are played by freshmen.
Coach Brian Boland expressed pride in the accomplishments and development of the Cavaliers over the past six months, but emphasized the implications of their inexperience.
"I'm sure [the Wake Forest match] will come down to that last match again," Boland said. "These guys need to look at these as positive experiences and fun. The tension of a 4-3 match when everything's on the line and you see all that pressure on one guy, that's what it's all about -- guys who can are the ones who are going to be champions. That's how you know you have a good team."
Dealing with the difficulty of their recent losses, Virginia will attempt to reestablish momentum and even out the pace of their game.
"It's tough, because our spirits are down a little bit, but the good part about it is that we're young and we need this experience," senior Michael Duquette said. "Sooner or later the ball's going to go our way. Going into the ACC tournament knowing we've had some tough losses and we're down right now, the key is to get back up and take this as a positive thing going into Friday against Wake. And while we know it's probably going to end up 4-3, I feel strongly that from top to bottom, if any guy's in that position, hopefully he'll come out with a W."
Last year's conference tournament yielded a quarterfinal Cavalier victory over then-No. 8 Blue Devils, but that win was followed by a subsequent Virginia loss to North Carolina in the semifinal round.
The next step for the Cavaliers will be to put disappointment aside and enter the tournament with confidence, which has proven to be a necessary weapon in maintaining focus and intensity in the early rounds.
"The great thing about ACC tournaments is that you start over," Boland said. "We've had a really weak finish in terms of winning matches but we've learned a lot from the experience, so there's a good reason for it. Everyone starts 0-0 now, we start over. We'll take what we've learned and go in and see what happens"
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