The Virginia men's tennis team showed N.C. State that, even on Valentine's Day, love can be cruel.
The Cavaliers (7-0, 1-0 ACC) cruised to a seven-love shoutout victory over the Wolfpack (2-3, 1-1) in their first ACC match of the season. Virginia swept the doubles and received straight set victories in all six singles contests.
"It's very important that we come out focused from the first point," Virginia coach Brian Boland said. "The focus today in doubles was great, which really helped carry the momentum into the singles, and I think the scores were reflective of that."
The only close match of the evening came at No. 1 singles, where Virginia's Doug Stewart faced set points in each set against Conor Taylor, but came back to win 7-5, 7-6.
The sophomore Stewart was down a break and 5-4 in the first, but broke back twice late in the set to gain the early 1-0 advantage. Taylor stayed on top of his game in the second set, going up another break at 3-2. Stewart got back on serve the very next game, and both players held for the rest of the set to push it to a tiebreaker.
Taylor got up 6-5 in the breaker, but Stewart came through with his back against the wall, hitting a big serve up the middle to put Taylor on the defensive and finishing off the point with an inside-out forehand winner at midcourt. Stewart won the next two points to clinch the victory and a complete sweep for the Cavaliers.
"I wasn't really happy with the way I played -- I came out tired and sluggish," Stewart said. "But it was a satisfying win. To come back in a close match against a guy who's playing well when you're really not playing your best, it's a good feeling."
The rest of the Cavaliers had a much easier time with the Wolfpack. Sophomore Stephen Rozek took care of Val Banada 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 2 spot. Sophomore Darrin Cohen spared only three games to William Noblitt at the No. 6 spot, winning 6-1, 6-2. And freshman Marko Miklo improved his record to 6-0 on the season, defeating Will Shaw 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4.
The most dominating Virginia win came from sophomore Rylan Rizza at No. 3 singles, who won the first 11 games of the match before dropping a pair and then clinching the 6-0, 6-2 victory.
"Rizza's the type of player that if he plays with enthusiasm and focus, he's incredibly hard to beat," Boland said. "He certainly had both of those tonight."
Virginia's final singles victory came from No. 5 Nick Meythaler, who was cheered on by several fraternity brothers and pledges clad in provocative attire. Some of Meythaler's fans were clad in pink pajamas, halter tops and sports bras while others simply painted their chests. Meythaler won 6-2, 6-4 over Dennis Myers.
"There were some pledges dressed in tacky attire," Meythaler said. "That's going to play a huge roll later in the season. You'd be amazed how much that bothers your opponents and gets in their heads."
Meythaler and Rizza maintained their perfect doubles record together, recording an 8-1 victory at the No. 1 spot. The No. 2 and 3 teams of Rozek/Milko and Cohen/Stewart also found success, winning 8-5 and 8-1, respectively.
Boland said he was particularly impressed with Virginia's doubles play against the Wolfpack.
"We've been trying to find three teams for a long time now," Boland said. "We're real pleased with the three teams we were finally able to put together."
Both Boland and Meythaler stressed the importance of fan support as Virginia gets into the heart of a season where they face four top-20 teams. Meythaler promised that Virginia's opponents should prepare for the same kind of hostile crowd that N.C. State had to deal with.
"Absolutely, the pledges will be there for sure," Meythaler said. "Count on every home match seeing the guys in the dresses and painted chests."
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