After capturing the National Team Indoor title, the Virginia men's tennis team has maintained its intensity and flawless record. Last weekend, No. 1 Virginia competed in a doubleheader and soundly defeated Old Dominion 7-0 and Boston College 6-1. The Cavaliers have had little time to recover, as they face No. 5 Texas tomorrow and No. 9 Baylor Saturday, arguably the strongest teams to travel to Charlottesville this season.
"They're certainly great programs, and we've had incredible matches with them over the last several years," Virginia coach Brian Boland said. "We have a tremendous amount of respect for both Baylor and Texas. I'm sure they will be great matches, and we wouldn't want anything less."
Texas threatens to be a formidable competitor, as shown by its only loss at the National Team Indoor tournament -- in the quarterfinals to No. 3 Georgia. The Longhorns are also coming off a 6-1 win against No. 19 Michigan. Texas has several ranked players, and its No. 8 doubles pair freshman Kellen Damico and senior Luis Diaz Barriga could pose a threat to the No. 1 pair, seniors Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey. Devvarman and Huey have only lost once this season.
Baylor may appear to be less intimidating, as it has only beaten one top-20 team and was knocked out in the first round of the National Team Indoor Tournament. The Bears, however, have won two of the last three and have two top-20 players, sophomore Denes Lukacs and senior Lars Poerschke. The Cavaliers will look to avenge a 6-1 loss to the Bears last season.
In addition to the tough opponents, the Cavaliers (13-0, 1-0 ACC) could also have to face playing outdoors for the first time this season.Although the location of the matches is tentatively scheduled to be at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club, warmer temperatures could cause the matches to be moved to the Snyder Tennis Center. The team has practiced outdoors and does not expect this change would be significant.
"We've gotten to practice outside a couple of days," senior Ted Angelinos said. "I don't think it really matters where we play."
While facing these challenges, the Cavaliers expect to have all their starting players ready to compete. Earlier this month, Devvarman was out playing in the Davis Cup, and junior Dominic Inglot was out due to an injury. Inglot also did not play last weekend as a precautionary measure.
"Our intention is to play [Inglot]," Boland said. "I just hold him out of matches that the team doesn't necessarily need him. I don't want to really take any risk whatsoever on a weekend like this."
In addition to top players like Devvarman and Inglot, Virginia has a great deal of depth, including freshmen Sanam Singh and Michael Shabaz. Singh has not lost a match since the team's season began in January, and almost all his matches have ended in two sets. Together, Sanam and Shabaz have formed a powerful doubles team, as they are No. 19 nationally and reached the doubles final of the ITA Mideast Regional in the fall.
Winning the National Team Indoor title has given the Cavaliers a good deal of confidence, but the team still realizes the need to continue its high level of work and determination to come out on top this weekend.
"We've been playing well, winning our matches, and it's a good feeling," Angelinos said. "We all know there is a lot of room for improvement, and we have to keep working hard and keep getting better every day."
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