The similarities between the Virginia men's and women's tennis program do not appear to extend much further than the sport they play.
The men's team is led by Brian Boland, whose three-year tenure at Virginia is in the mere stages of infancy compared to the 22 seasons women's coach Phil Rogers has been on the job.
Extending past the coaching discrepancy is the recent performance of each club. The women finished last season at a disappointing 11-12 and ranked No. 54 in the nation, a slight regression from the 16 victories and No. 35 ranking the year before. Meanwhile, the men's team recently completed the finest season in school history, finishing 24-4 with a slew of school records. Their 24 victories and No. 10 end-of-year ranking were both school records, and they threw in a first-ever ACC title and the first win over ACC rival Duke in the past 25 years for good measure. All this was done by a team without a single senior, not particularly good news for the rest of the country.
For all that sets these two teams apart, there is one very important characteristic they share. Over the past few seasons, each has done a stellar job of making sure some of the best tennis prospects in the world decide Charlottesville is where they want to play college tennis.
The recent recruiting success at a school not known for tennis leads to a reasonable question: Why in the past few seasons has Virginia tennis done so well in getting the players that slipped away in years past?
The answer on the men's side should not be too hard to figure out. The top players and success have coincided with the hiring of Boland from Indiana State prior to the 2001-2002 season. At Indiana State, Boland transformed his struggling alma mater into one of the top 20 programs in the nation. He was chosen as Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year four times in his five seasons with the Sycamores and finished with a stellar 120
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