For the Virginia men's tennis team, it is time to earn their top-10 ranking.
The team is in Chicago today to participate in the prestigious USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The event is loaded with some of the best teams in the country, including defending NCAA Champion Baylor as well as No. 3 Illinois, who won the tournament last year. Overall, the field includes seven teams ranked in the top 10 and 10 teams in the top 15.
This is Virginia's first appearance at the event, which annually features the top 13 teams in the preseason tennis poll.
"It's going to be fun because it's the first time we've been put in a pool with the top teams in the country," junior Doug Stewart said. "I think we all have high expectations."
So far, the Cavaliers have done their part in living up to the preseason hype. In their first five matches this season, Virginia amassed 31 match wins to only five losses, maintaining an unblemished record on its way to a No. 9 ranking. All five of their opponents have been ranked in the top 75.
"We've definitely built up our confidence by winning our first five matches," freshman Somdev Devvarman said. "We've not been troubled too much by anyone."
Virginia will rely on its depth to compete against the strong field in Chicago. With four players ranked in the top 63 in the country, the Cavaliers can compete with anybody.
That depth has led coach Brian Boland to experiment with his lineup in the events leading up to the tournament. Against Indiana, Boland sat No. 2 starter Rylan Rizza out for his singles match after the junior won his doubles match.
"It's trying to see what other guys have, what they can bring to the court on any given day," Boland said. "We have a great deal of depth and lots of talent. We need to give the guys a chance to see what they can do."
Virginia's first test in Chicago will be against No. 7 Stanford, a team that has won the event 12 times since 1973, with its last victory coming in 2002.
Stanford boasts two of the top players in the country with senior Sam Warburg at No. 4 and junior K.C. Cockery at No. 15. Cockery and Warburg also are a formidable doubles combination; the pair teamed up to take home the 2004 NCAA Doubles Championship. Virginia's top singles players, Doug Stewart and Rylan Rizza, stand at No. 19 and No. 36, respectively. With points expected to be hard to come by at the upper seeds, the top-heavy Cardinal squad will put more pressure on Virginia's lower-seeded players to produce points.
In order to win, the Cavaliers will need solid play from their No. 3 through No. 6 players, including Devverman, sophomore Marko Miklo, freshman Treat Huey, and junior Darrin Cohen.
"Stanford's always been one of the most heralded programs in college tennis," Boland said. "They're really going to push us. It's not going to be easy."
Boland also has emphasized the importance of playing these games with confidence and not allowing the team to perceive itself as an underdog.
"We're going to have to have confidence," Boland said. "We're not the underdogs. I think the guys need to go out and realize that if they take one match at a time and continue to work hard, things will happen."
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