Dear Old U.Va.

A Chance at Redemption?

Friday, May 08 2009 by Tim

About three hours from now the Virginia Men’s Tennis team will begin the final stage of its quest for an NCAA Championship. They host Navy in the first round of the NCAA tournament at 1pm at the Snyder Tennis Courts, a little over a mile from where I sit right now. They’re the #1 team in the country. They’re the #1 seed in the tournament. They’re the only undefeated team in the nation. They’re the three-time defending ACC Champions. The only thing missing? A national title.

A year ago today, the Cavaliers were in much the same situation. They were #1 in the country. They were the #1 seed. They were undefeated. They were the two-time defending ACC Champion. And yet, their dreams were crushed by a 3-4 loss at the hands of Georgia in the semi-finals. The score was better than the previous year when Georgia also knocked them out in the semi-finals, but the result was the same – heartbreak. Senior Somdev Devvarman would go on to win his second consecutive NCAA singles title just a week later. But that national title for the team was elusive.

Back to today and we’re looking at a younger team taking the court today than what we saw last year. Dominic Inglot is the lone senior with significant court time. Behind him you’ve got juniors Houston Barrick and Lee Singer, sophomores Michael Shabaz and Sanam Singh and freshmen Drew Courtney and Steven Rooda. Gone from the lineup are Devvarman, one of the NCAA’s all-time greats, Treat Huey and Ted Angelinos.

Will the outcome be any different this year?

It’s hard to say.

This team has worked its way through the season masterfully, taking out top 25 teams wherever it could (nine times this season). They’ve crushed some teams (holding a 31-2 scoring margin over its final six ACC foes) and they’ve had some nail-biters (the match at Texas in mid-march comes to mind). So this team knows how to win no matter what challenge presents itself to them.

Ironically, a familiar foe faces them if they make it deep into the tournament. Georgia is the #4 seed and would be the Cavalier’s opponent in the semifinals should both teams advance that far.

Can the Cavaliers take advantage of a chance at redemption, beating the team that has ousted them the past two years? Can they then turn that momentum into one of those elusive national titles, beating likely Ole Miss or Ohio State for the championship?

I really don’t know. But I’m going to enjoy following the team as they try.

The Cavaliers take on Navy at 1pm today at the Snyder Tennis Courts. North Carolina and South Carolina start serving at 10am (right now, actually). The winners will play tomorrow at 1pm.

I’ll be there for tomorrow’s second-round match, so hopefully I’ll have my first tennis pictures of the year to share this weekend.

Go Hoos!