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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team took to its home courts for the first time in six weeks and delivered a 6-1 victory over No. 10 Duke in front of 577 fans on a chilly Friday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center. The Cavaliers (21-0, 6-0 ACC) extended their ACC-record win streak to 69 consecutive victories over conference competition and their school record home winning streak to 84 matches. The Blue Devils (13-7, 4-1 ACC) were handed their first conference loss of the season.

In doubles, the Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead by winning a close doubles point. The Blue Devils took the early edge as Cale Hammond and Torsten Wietoska topped Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and Steven Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) 8-6 at No. 3. Virginia drew even with a win at No. 2, where Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) defeated David Holland and Chris Mengel 8-5. With the opening point on the line, second-ranked Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) and Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) downed sixth-ranked Henrique Cunha and Reid Carleton 8-6 at the top spot.

Virginia quickly made the score 3-0 early in singles play. Singh cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Mengel at No. 3, followed shortly by second-ranked Domijan’s 6-2, 6-2 victory over eighth-ranked Carleton at No. 2. Courtney clinched the win with his victory at No. 5, defeating Wietoska 7-5, 6-3. Duke’s lone point came at No. 1, where sixth-ranked Cunha edged fifth-ranked Shabaz 7-6(7), 6-3, making the score 4-1. The Cavaliers closed out the match with a pair of three-set wins, with Justin Shane (Falls Church, Va.) topping Luke Marchese at No. 6 and Jenkins downing Fred Saba at No. 4.

“I was pleased with our overall performance today,” said head coach Brian Boland. “Duke is a great team and gave a great effort and we knew we were going to have to rise to that challenge today. We need to keep working hard and continue to improve as we have another tough match Sunday against North Carolina.”

The Cavaliers will host the No. 17 Tar Heels (10-4, 5-0 ACC) on Sunday in a matchup of the two remaining teams undefeated in ACC play. Match time at the Snyder Tennis Center is 1 p.m.

#1 Virginia 6, #10 Duke 1

Doubles
1. #2 Shabaz/Courtney (UVa) def. #6 Cunha/Carleton (Duke) 8-6
2. Singh/Jenkins (UVa) def. Holland/Mengel (Duke) 8-5
3. Hammond/Wietoska (Duke) def. Domijan/Rooda (UVa) 8-6

Singles
1. #6 Henrique Cunha (Duke) def. #5 Michael Shabaz (UVa) 7-6(7), 6-3
2. #2 Alex Domijan (UVa) def. #8 Reid Carleton (Duke) 6-2, 6-2
3. #25 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. #123 Chris Mengel (Duke) 6-2, 6-1
4. #44 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) def. Fred Saba (Duke) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(3)
5. #37 Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Torsten Wietoska (Duke) 7-5, 6-3
6. Justin Shane (UVa) def. Luke Marchese (Duke) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2

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

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