No.5 Virginia will have another tough test this weekend when it faces off against No.24 Michigan at home. Virginia will be returning home after two tough road matches against VCU and Alabama. Returning to the confines of the Boyd Tinsley courts this weekend has several players excited.
"Playing at home is a lot more fun," junior Treat Huey said. "I mean, we're expecting a lot of people to come out this weekend. I mean, the atmosphere here is just great."
The Cavaliers struggled a little in their last two matches on the road, winning both matches by a narrow margin of 4-3. Virginia also lost its first doubles point of the year, putting the team in an early hole against Alabama.
"I thought it was really good for us," Virginia coach Brian Boland said. "It's always good to have to bounce back from losing the doubles point, something we've had a lot of success with. But it helps for us to have a little bit of adversity and to have our backs against the wall, and I thought we responded to that really well."
On paper, the match against Michigan looks like one of Virginia's easier matches, considering the Cavaliers have already posted wins over No.12 VCU, No.5 Illinois and No.13 Notre Dame. Michigan is undefeated so far this season, but has largely been untested. Michigan has three 7-0 victories in four matches thus far -- none of those wins coming over a team ranked higher than No.55 Western Michigan. The team's other quality win was a 5-2 victory over then-No. 12 Texas at home. Michigan has not played on the road yet this season, and a trip to No.5 Virginia on Saturday will represent a serious test.
The Wolverines come into Saturday's match with a team that is very strong at the top. No.44 Matko Maravic, a junior, and No.59 Brian Hung, a senior, will likely face Huey and junior Somdev Devvarman. Maravic and Hung play doubles together and are currently ranked second nationally.
"They [Michigan] are a tough team," Boland said. "We're going to have to play good tennis. We know last year they competed really hard and we're looking forward to it, and it should be a fun match."
Huey and Devvarman will have their hands full Saturday, which could mean Virginia is in danger of losing its second doubles match of the season. The doubles play from the freshman team of Dominic Inglot and Houston Barrick, as well as from the team of freshman Lee Singer and junior Ted Angelinos will be crucial to the Cavaliers' start Saturday.
Virginia is hoping to use Saturday's match as a tune-up for the National Team Indoors in Chicago next weekend where the Cavaliers will play high-ranked teams from all across the nation. Virginia should be used to that level of competition by now, considering how challenging the team's early season schedule has been.
"We're continuing to get the matches in that are challenging us." Boland said. "I feel like we're improving each time we step out on the court."
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