Men's Tennis Tops Tennessee 4-0 to Reach National Indoor Final
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CHICAGO The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team reached the finals of the 2009 ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a 4-0 victory over No. 8 Tennessee Sunday afternoon at the Midtown Tennis Club. The Cavaliers will meet No. 3 Georgia in the final on Monday as they look to repeat as National Indoor champions.
“I am so proud of the guys on this team,” said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “They played so well from start to finish today. That is a testament to the leadership this team has. We had a battle yesterday with UCLA, but came out ready to go today against a good Tennessee team.”
Virginia, the reigning ITA National Indoor Champions, took the doubles point for a 1-0 lead. The Cavaliers got an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles as Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va,) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) downed Christian Hansen and Matt Brewer. Dominic Inglot (London, England) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) clinched the opening point for Virginia with an 8-3 win over Boris Conkic and Matteo Fago at the No. 2 position.
In singles, the Cavaliers got off to a strong start by winning four of the six first sets. In three of those matches, Virginia quickly won the second set to close out the match. At No. 6 singles, Courtney topped Brewer 6-4, 6-1 to make the score 2-0. Steven Eelkman Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Hansen at No. 5 singles. Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) ended the match with his 6-1, 6-3 victory over Conkic at No. 2 singles.
“We are excited to be in another final,” said Boland. “We have a lot of respect for Georgia and know that it is going to be a great match.”
The championship match will be at noon (CT) on Monday.
No. 5 Virginia 4, No. 8 Tennessee 0
Doubles
1. #3 Singh/Barrick (UVa) led Smith/Sandgren (Tenn) 7-6 DNF
2. #27 Inglot/Shabaz (UVa) def. #21 Conkic/Fago (Tenn) 8-3
3. Courtney/Singer (UVa) def. Hansen/Brewer (Tenn) 8-4
Singles
1. #50 John-Patrick Smith (Tenn) led #43 Dominic Inglot (UVa) 6-2, 4-2 DNF
2. #24 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. #103 Boris Conkic (Tenn) 6-1, 6-3
3. #11 Michael Shabaz (UVa) led Davey Sandgren (Tenn) 6-4, 2-3 DNF
4. Matteo Fago (Tenn) led #68 Houston Barrick (UVa) 7-5, 2-1 DNF
5. Steven Eelkman Rooda (UVa) def. Christian Hansen (Tenn) 6-2, 6-2
6. #108 Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Matt Brewer (Tenn) 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish
Doubles: 3,2
Singles: 6,5,3