Setting high standards has become a specialty of the Virginia men's tennis team. The Cavaliers were the first ACC team to win the National Team Indoors title in February, and after defeating Virginia Tech 7-0 Wednesday, the team has won 17 consecutive matches, a new school record. The previous record of 16 matches was set in 2005 and was met last season before the team fell to Georgia in the NCAA semifinals.
This weekend, No. 1 Virginia (17-0, 3-0 ACC) will look to extend its record on the road against Georgia Tech Friday and Clemson Sunday. The Cavaliers have been cruising past their competition thus far, and, especially in the ACC, they have soundly defeated all of their opponents. At Maryland, the team did not give up any singles sets, and at Virginia Tech it dropped just two.
Winning the next two ACC matches, however, will not be so easy, particularly because the team will have played three road matches in five days.
"It's different because there's a little more wear and tear on your body," freshman Michael Shabaz said. "You just have to make sure you prepare yourself well for each match. It shouldn't be too brutal, but we just have to prepare ourselves and we'll be OK."
Georgia Tech (11-5, 1-2 ACC) boasts two ranked players and has won its past two matches. Virginia presents the Yellow Jackets with the opportunity for their first win against a top-25 team.
After starting the season ranked No. 30, Clemson (11-11, 0-3 ACC) has since struggled and dropped to No. 61. The Tigers have won only one of their past eight matches; they will be fighting to return to the national scene and to win their first ACC match of the season.
As the defending ACC champion, Virginia faces the pressure of being the team everyone wants to beat, which road matches only further intensify. The Cavaliers, however, do not feel any more threatened at away matches than on their home court.
"We really don't approach [away matches] any differently," No. 1 senior Somdev Devvarman said. "We still know that we'll always have a tough opponent either way, so we approach every match the same way."
While the Cavaliers will work to maintain their unblemished record, many players have individual undefeated records on the line as well. Devvarman and senior Ted Angelinos have not lost a singles match this season, and Devvarman has accrued 23 consecutive singles victories in regular-season dual matches, dating back to last season. Freshman Sanam Singh has also kept his singles record perfect, dropping only two sets over that span.
If there are any areas of improvement for the Cavaliers, it would be winning the doubles point. Virginia has three top-40 pairs but has dropped the doubles point four times this season. The doubles point is crucial because it precedes -- and can build momentum for -- the singles matches. The No. 26 tandem of junior Dominic Inglot and sophomore Houston Barrick have struggled because of an injury to Inglot. The pair lost its match at Maryland, but the tandem is looking stronger after a win at Virginia Tech.
"Dom's healthy now," Virginia coach Brian Boland said. "So they [Inglot and Barrick] have had a chance to practice consistently for almost a week. I think they're only going to get better from here on out"
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