Men's Tennis Wins Road Opener 6-1 at Illinois

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URBANA, Ill. – The No. 2 Virginia men’s tennis team improved to 2-0 on the season as it won its road opener 6-1 Friday night at No. 15 Illinois. The Cavaliers quickly secured the victory, winning the doubles point and posting five straight-set singles wins to defeat the Illini in their season opener.

The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. No. 17 ranked Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) and Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) gave Virginia the early advantage as they cruised to an 8-1 win over Abe Souza and Connor Roth at the No. 3 position. Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) clinched the opening point for UVa with an 8-6 win at No. 2 over Marek Czerwinski and Stephen Hoh. In the final doubles match, the Illini duo of Dennis Nevolo and Johnny Hamui topped Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) 8-5 at the top position.

Third-ranked Shabaz doubled the Cavalier lead early in singles with his 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 43 Nevolo at No. 1 singles. Courtney made the score 3-0 as he completed a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles over Czerwinski. Barrick clinched the Cavalier victory at No. 6 singles with his 6-4, 6-3 win over Roth. At No. 2 singles, Singh recorded Virginia’s fourth straight-set victory, as he defeated Hamui 6-2, 6-2. Illinois (0-1) got on the board at No. 4 singles where Souza rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 won over Jenkins. Singer completed the match by defeating Hoh 6-3, 7-6 at No. 5 singles.

Virginia continues its road trip on Sunday as it plays at No. 30 Notre Dame. The match will use the same alternative scoring format as the Cavaliers’ match vs. William & Mary earlier in the week, where 10 singles and five doubles matches are played for 15 total points.

No. 2 Virginia 6, No. 15 Illinois 1

Doubles:
1. Hamui/Nevolo (Ill) def. Singh/Shabaz (UVa) 8-5
2. Jenkins/Barrick (UVa) def. Czerwinski/Hoh (Ill) 8-6
3. #17 Courtney/Singer (UVa) def. Souza/Roth (Ill) 8-1

Singles:
1. #3 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. #43 Dennis Nevolo (Ill) 6-4, 6-3
2. #12 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. Johnny Hamui (Ill) 6-2, 6-2
3. #31 Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Marek Czerwinski (Ill) 6-4, 6-2
4. Abe Souza (Ill) def. #16 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) 4-6, 6-3, 10-8
5. #28 Lee Singer (UVa) def. Stephen Hoh (Ill) 6-3, 7-6
6. #58 Houston Barrick (UVa) def. Connor Roth (Ill) 6-4, 6-3

Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3,2,1
Singles: 1,3,6,2,4,5