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Men's Tennis Begins Fall Slate
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Sept. 20, 2001
The Virginia Cavaliers men’s tennis begins its 2001 fall schedule this weekend, travelling to Annapolis, Md., to participate in the Navy Invitational. Virginia is among four teams competing.
This also marks the beginning of the Brian Boland era, who took over the reigns from Dick Stockton on August 1. Stockton stepped down from his post at the end of last season to take a position as Director of Tennis at the Delray Tennis Center in Delray Beach, Fla. Boland comes to Virginia from Indiana State, where in just a five-year span, he led the Sycamores to national prominence with a 120-31 (.794) record over that span. Indiana State also competed and hosted the NCAA Regionals during the last three seasons, which is definitely a goal of the new staff at Virginia. Joining Boland is Constantine Ananiadis, who was the head coach at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., for the last two seasons. While there, he turned a 4-10 team into a 17-4 team in one season, while also producing the college’s first All-America selection in any sport.
Returning this season to the team are fourth-years Jonathon Chou, Jason Romesburg and Timothy Snead. Chou was 2-2 combined at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, including one conference win. He also added nine wins in doubles competition. Romesburg picked up three wins in the No. 4 and No. 6 spot, along with two tournament wins. He also had three doubles wins. Snead competed in one match at the No. 6 spot.
Also returning are third years Michael Duquette and Patrick Guarnieri. Duquette picked up 16 wins last season, most of any returning player, including nine tournament wins. He will likely move up to the No. 1 spot, after splitting time at the No.3 and No. 4 spot. Guarnieri was 2-2 overall last season, both wins coming in tournament play.
New to the team this year are John Curtis from Memphis, Tenn., Stephen Nolen from Aurora, Colo., and Dillon Walker from Dallas, Texas. Curtis was a finalist at the Doubles National 16’s Indoor as well as champion at the Doubles Southern Championship. He was also ranked in the top 100 in the nation. Nolen was a four-year all-state selection at Smoky Hill High in Aurora, Colo., as well as being team captain and MVP. Walker was team captain at St. Stephen’s Episcopal, where he was team captain, helping the team to three conference champions, and was named Dallas Tennis Association Player of the Year three years in a row.
The Cavaliers begin action on Friday Sept. 21, at 10 a.m. with Maryland. They resume play on Saturday with a 12 p.m. match with host Navy, followed by a 4 p.m. match with St. John’s. They see doubles action on Sunday with St. John’s at 8:30 a.m.