The nation's top-ranked men's tennis team faces No. 18 Wake Forest and No. 47 N.C. State at home during its senior weekend.
Virginia has been dominant against both N.C. State and Wake Forest - which it plays this today and Sunday - during the past few years. The Cavaliers defeated both teams 6-1 last year, while they also trounced Wake Forest 7-0 and N.C. State 5-2 during the 2007-08 season.
"N.C. State's a good team, and Wake Forest is really tough," Singer said. "I think it's going to be another great opportunity for us to get out there and play some really quality matches."
Virginia also will play a double-header match against Hampton this weekend, last facing the Pirates in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, during which the Cavaliers defeated the Pirates 4-0. The double-header is primarily intended to give more players a chance to compete this season. Nevertheless, impressive play still could be particularly meaningful for those players who will be making their final home match debuts this weekend.
"It will be a great tribute to ... Houston Barrick and Lee Singer, who have given so much to this program over the past years," Boland said.
Last weekend, the Cavaliers took down both then-No. 27 Duke and then-No. 20 North Carolina last weekend, 4-3 in both matches. The team attributes much of its success that week to rallying back and remaining strong despite tough match schedules and away games.
"We got the job done, and the bottom line is that we came through," Singer said.
One particular example of the team's ability to rally back could be seen in freshman singles player Jarmere Jenkins, who recently injured his ankle in a match against Florida State and sat out for some of the practice last week. Despite his injury, Jenkins played both the North Carolina and Duke matches and was victorious at Duke in singles.
"He struggled a little bit against UNC but his results against Duke spoke for" themselves, coach Brian Boland said about Jenkins.
The team as a whole also managed to recover from its doubles point loss against Duke, and perhaps learned in the process that having to rally back in singles can give a team even more fire to win.
"I think we definitely rallied back really well," Singer said. "You know, we just thought the doubles point is one point out of seven, and you just have to go out there and win [the other] six."
The Cavaliers hope to continue their momentum from last weekend and give strong performances to close out the collegiate careers of their seniors.
"This is my last home match [weekend] here and it's senior day on Sunday," Singer said. "It will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it ."
After this weekend's matches, Virginia will prepare to visit ACC opponents Georgia Tech and Clemson next weekend.
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