The start of the spring season is still a few months away, but the Virginia men's tennis team will take its first big step of the fall season this weekend at the U.Va. Fall Invitational at Snyder Tennis Center.
This is the third year the Cavaliers have hosted the event, and assistant coach Tony Bresky believes this year's field will be particularly strong.
"The quality of tennis has grown, not necessarily the size of the tournament," Bresky said. "I think there is a very good chance every team we have coming will be nationally ranked this year, and there will be a few top-25, top-30 teams."
Harvard, Wake Forest and N.C. State are just a few of the top teams that will compete in the three-day tournament, which begins Friday at 9 a.m. and ends with the finals on Sunday. The event is purely individual, with A and B flights in both singles and doubles, and no team scores. The singles flights will feature 32 players each, while 16 pairs will compete in each doubles bracket.
With several more fall events on the schedule, this one stands out for a clear reason. It's right at home for the Cavaliers.
"It's so nice," head coach Brian Boland said. "Traveling can really wear on the guys, and I can't say enough about the opportunity to play at home and sleep in your own beds."
Being at home is nice for that reason, but with the fall season geared toward player development, the biggest advantage of this event is the "tremendous opportunity for every guy on the team to play in a competitive situation," Boland added.
The Cavaliers have not lost a single player from last season's team, which set two school records by winning 24 matches and ending the season at No. 10 in the nation. Virginia also signed a top-tier recruiting class, which includes Treat Huey, who went on a tear after signing with the Cavaliers and earned a No. 1 national ranking in the United States Tennis Association boys' 18s.
"I was definitely more comfortable on court [after signing]," Huey said. "I felt more relief off the court. There wasn't as much pressure."
Huey is joined by fellow freshmen Jarrett Chirico, Somdev Devvaraman, Eric Riley and Andrew Downing, all of whom have come in and shown they are the kind of players that Boland and Bresky want at Virginia.
"They love being on the team," Bresky said. "They love being part of it, and they're very coachable. They're all willing to work hard, and that's all you can ask for."
It's not just the coaches, however, who are happy with the new additions.
"I love 'em," junior Rylan Rizza said. "They're awesome, they're great guys ... Having five new personalities out on the courts -- it's fun."
Fun is something this team seems to have a lot of; and when you've got the sort of potential that they do, the smiles should be plentiful. For all the attention that will be focused on the performance of the new players this weekend, there are still a couple holdovers who know how to play some tennis. Two players, juniors Doug Stewart and Rizza, are ranked in the pre-season ITA singles rankings.
Stewart, an All-American last season while filling in at the No. 1 spot in the lineup, is ranked No. 5. The doubles tandem of Rizza and fellow junior Nick Meythaler is ranked No. 6 in the nation, and Stewart and Huey are ranked No. 35.
There is a long fall ahead of the highly-talented Cavaliers before the spring season begins, but Rizza knows what he wants when the time rolls around.
"I'm looking forward to being No. 1 in the country," he said. "That's the goal of this team, and there's no doubt we can get there with hard work."
This weekend gives Virginia its first opportunity to see if that goal is realistic.
Read More
Katie Grimes posts historic debut as women’s swimming and diving annihilates Virginia Tech
By Xander Tilock | 15 hours agoGrimes broke out as a new superstar for Coach Todd DeSorbo's squad.
Women’s basketball displays stingy defense, but falls short versus No. 14 Duke
By Xander Tilock | 21 hours agoThe Cavaliers nearly conquered a ranked rival but could not generate consistent offense.
You cannot say money is the problem for Virginia football
By Peter Kriebel | YesterdayMoney, after all, is just one aspect of a winning program.
