With two top-10 ranked players and one recently named ACC Player of the Week, the No. 7 Virginia men's tennis team continues its demanding schedule with tomorrow's home match against No. 8 Baylor University.
Virginia was pre-season No. 1 nationally but has since fallen in the polls after its opening loss to No. 5 Pepperdine and most recent loss to No. 3 Illinois. Baylor will be the third top-10 team Virginia has played in the past three weeks.
"We didn't play that poorly against Illinois," said Virginia coach Brian Boland. "We started off with such a challenging schedule; I think it was inevitable that we were going to have a few bumps along the way."
Even with the difficult schedule, though, the team is holding its own with a current record of 4-2. The Cavaliers have not faced a team ranked lower than No. 36 so far.
The team's performance and high ranking is the result of several talented players.
Sophomore Treat Huey is currently ranked No. 6 nationally with fellow sophomore Somdev Devvarman close behind at No. 10. Virginia is the only school in the country with two players in the top 10. Devvarman was awarded ACC Player of the Week Monday.
"It's pretty cool being named Player of the Week," Devvarman said. "But we just started our season. It's not something we want to get overrun by."
This humble mentality is shared by Devvarman's teammates and coaches and is illustrated by the team's desire to bounce back from its latest loss.
"We need to improve our doubles," Boland said regarding what the team has been working on for tomorrow's match.
Devvarman also discussed the advantages of having a sizable crowd on hand and how that may have affected the Cavaliers.
"Illinois' crowd was huge," Devvarman said. "They had a marching band, cheerleaders on the court, students screaming stuff, pumping up the players. It might have gotten in our heads a little."
The University recently put the finishing touches on a $7.5 million addition to the Boar's Head Sports Club. The new Indoor Tennis Stadium can hold up to 1,000 spectators.
"We have the same potential [as Illinois] in terms of environment," Boland said. "We have an unbelievable facility, a great place to watch tennis, and we need students."
When the Cavaliers take on the Bears tomorrow at 5 p.m., they will have to go through No. 1 Lars Poerschke.
In order to beat Baylor, though, Devarrman believes that the team will need to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders.
"This is the first time playing them at home," Devvarman said. "We need to come out absolutely fired up, very energetic."
Last year, Virginia suffered two close losses to the Bears, ranked No. 1 at the time. They marked the team's only regular season losses.
"We need to believe we can win," Devvarman emphasized. "Once we do that, once the whole team believes that, then we have a good shot against a great team like Baylor"
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