Men's Tennis Blanks Tulsa 4-0 in National Team Indoor Opener
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CHICAGO The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team began the defense of its ITA National Team Indoor title with a 4-0 win over No. 12 Tulsa in first round action Friday night at the Midtown Tennis Club. The Cavaliers improve to 9-0 on the season and reach the National Indoor quarterfinals for the fourth time in the past five years.
Virginia opened the match by taking the doubles point. Tulsa took an early advantage as fourth-ranked Arnau Brugues and Phillip Stephens topped third-ranked Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) at No. 1 doubles. The Cavaliers answered with an 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles as No. 27 Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) downed Alberto Sottocorno and Ashley Watling. The Cavaliers clinched the opening point when Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) completed an 8-4 win over Ross Cunningham and Victor Kolik at the No. 3 position.
In singles, the Cavaliers opened play strong, winning all six first sets. Courtney made the score 2-0 with his 6-3, 6-1 win over Cunningham at No. 6 singles. Steven Eelkman Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) added a 6-1, 6-3 win over Watling at No.5 singles to make the score 3-0. Shabaz completed the 4-0 victory with his 6-3, 6-2 win over Stephens at No. 3 singles. Virginia led in each of the three matches that were suspended. At No. 1 singles, Inglot led No. 10 Brugues 6-4, 5-4 and was about to serve for the match when Brugues took a medical timeout. That timeout lasted until Shabaz clinched the dual match. At No. 4, Barrick was serving for his match against Sottocorno when the dual match was halted.
“Overall, the team played extremely well today,” said head coach Brian Boland. “A lot of the hard work we have put in over the past month or so is really paying off and we continue to get better with each match. We are getting more and more confidence during tough situations and are rising to the occasion. We look forward to another tough match against a great UCLA team tomorrow.”
The Cavaliers will meet No. 4 UCLA in the quarterfinals on Saturday ats 6:30 p.m. (CT). The Bruins were 4-2 winners over No. 13 Illinois on Friday.
No. 5 Virginia 4, No. 12 Tulsa 0
Doubles
1. #4 Brugues/Stephens (Tulsa) def. #3 Barrick/Singh (UVa) 8-4
2. #27 Inglot/Shabaz (UVa) def. Sottocorno/Watling (Tulsa) 8-6
3. Courtney/Singer (UVa) def. Cunningham/Kolik (Tulsa) 8-4
Singles
1. #43 Dominic Inglot (UVa) led #10 Arnau Brugues (Tulsa) 6-4, 5-4 DNF
2. #24 Sanam Singh (UVa) ;ed Victor Kolik (Tulsa) 6-0, 5-5 DNF
3. #11 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. #91 Phillip Stephens (Tulsa) 6-3, 6-2
4. #68 Houston Barrick (UVa) led Alberto Sottocorno (Tulsa) 6-4, 5-4 DNF
5. Steven Eelkman Rooda (UVa) def. Ashley Watling (Tulsa) 6-1, 6-3
6. #108 Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Ross Cunningham (Tulsa) 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1,2,3
Singles: 6,5,3