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CHARLOTTESVILLE The Virginia men’s tennis team is ranked No. 1 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings released Tuesday. It marks the second time in the past three seasons that the Cavaliers have opened the year as the nation’s top ranked squad.
The Cavaliers, who return five starters from last year’s squad that finished 30-4 and ended the year ranked No. 2 nationally are followed by reigning national champion Georgia, Ohio State, Baylor and Mississippi. Virginia received 27 of the 37 first place votes in the poll, with Georgia receiving the other 10. USC, Texas, Illinois, UCLA and North Carolina round out the top ten. ACC schools Wake Forest (No. 15), Duke (No. 16), Florida State (No. 18) and NC State (No. 20) were also ranked in the preseason top 20.
In the latest ITA singles rankings, four Cavaliers are ranked in the top 100 nationally. Senior Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India), the reigning NCAA Champion and preseason No. 1 player in the national rankings, retains the No. 1 spot. He went 13-1 in the fall, winning the ITA National Indoor Championship. Junior Dominic Inglot (London, England) is ranked a career-high No. 3 in the rankings. He became the first Cavalier to win the singles title at the ITA Mideast Regional and won the backdraw of the ITA National Indoor Championships, defeating three top ten players in the process. Senior Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) is No. 12 in the rankings. He was ranked No. 13 nationally in the preseason and posted a 7-1 record in the fall, winning his flight of the UVa Fall Invitational and reaching the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships. Sophomore Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) receives his first ever national singles ranking at No. 82. He went 4-3 during the fall season.
Virginia has a school record five doubles teams ranked in the latest ITA doubles rankings. The team of Devvarman and Huey remain No. 1 after going 13-0 in fall, including winning both the ITA All-American and ITA National Indoor doubles titles. The team of Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Ted Angelinos (Athens, Greece) are ranked No. 18 after a 6-1 fall record, including winning the doubles title at the Crimson Tide Fall Championship. Barrick and Inglot are ranked No. 25 after a fall season highlighted by advancing to the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships. First-years Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) are ranked No. 28, after reaching the finals of the ITA Mideast Regional in their first tournament as a team. The team of Singh and Singer are ranked No. 50 after reaching the semifinals of the UVa Fall Invitational.
The Cavaliers open the 2008 season on Jan. 20 as they host No. 43 William & Mary at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Tribe is the first of 20 ranked opponents on the Cavaliers’ 2008 schedule.