Fresh off its victory at the ITA National Indoor Championship, the No. 1 Virginia men's tennis team swept two Saturday matches against No. 39 Old Dominion University (6-6) and Boston College (2-5). The Cavaliers took the first match against ODU 7-0 and then defeated BC 6-1.
Virginia (13-0) swept the doubles point beginning when the No. 19 team of freshmen Michael Shabaz and Sanam Singh completed their set 8-3. They were followed by No. 1 pair Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey, who won 8-5 to clinch the doubles point. Sophomore Lee Singer and senior Ted Angelinos finished off the doubles round with an 8-6 victory.
"We came out pretty prepared to play ODU," Devvarman said. "I felt like we played really good doubles points in both matches, which set up the singles. I think all the guys played really well today."
The Cavaliers continued their dominance in the singles matches, winning all six in straight sets. Singh started things off with a 6-1, 6-1 victory and was followed by Angelinos who won 6-0, 6-0.
"I don't think people realize how hard it is to win 6-0, 6-0," Virginia coach Brian Boland said. "It takes a tremendous amount of focus and perseverance and really being extremely determined with each point."
Virginia clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-1 victory from Huey. Sophomore Houston Barrick followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win, and Devvarman finished off his match with a final score of 6-4, 6-1. The sweep was completed when Shabaz defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-2.
After the 1 p.m. match against Old Dominion, Virginia took a short break before starting up again at 6 with Boston College.
"Obviously the key for them today was to keep up their intensity and make sure they had a lot of energy," Boland said. "We knew it was a bit of a risk to play a doubleheader today but it was something that was probably good for us."
The Cavaliers looked none the worse for wear when they decided to change things up in the second match of the day against Boston College, breaking up the doubles team of Devvarman and Huey and substituting senior Andrew Downing for Singh.
The new pairing of Devvarman and Shabaz finished first, winning handily in an 8-1 decision. Huey and Downing clinched the doubles point for Virginia with an 8-2 victory before Singer and Angelinos completed the sweep with an 8-6 win.
"It was good that we got to ... switch up the lineup a little," Huey said. "[We] got some more people in the second match that haven't played as often, so that was definitely good. We just pulled it out and the teams meshed well so it worked."
Huey got things started quickly in the singles matches, polishing off a speedy 6-1, 6-1 victory before some of his teammates had even finished their first sets. Shabaz continued the winning trend with a 6-4, 7-5 score. This time it was Devvarman who clinched the match for the Cavaliers by taking his match 6-3, 6-2.
Boston College won its only point of the day when Downing fell 2-6, 2-4. It would be the only high note for the Eagles. Angelinos won 6-4, 6-0, and Singer completed a hard-fought victory 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 to complete the match.
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