Cavaliers Down Georgia Tech for Fifth Straight Unbeaten ACC Regular Season

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team completed its fifth consecutive undefeated ACC regular season on Saturday with a 6-1 win over No. 15 Georgia Tech at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers (26-0, 11-0 ACC) extended their ACC-record win streak to 74 consecutive victories over conference competition and their school-record home winning streak to 87 matches. The Yellow Jackets fell to 17-4 overall and 8-3 in the ACC.

The Cavaliers opened the match by winning a close doubles point. Georgia Tech took the early edge as Guillermo Gomez and Dean O’Brien downed Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and Steven Rooda (Amersfoort, The Netherlands) 8-0 at No. 2. Virginia drew even with a win at No. 1 where Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) and Justin Shane (Falls Church, Va.) topped Eliot Potvin and Ryan Smith 8-5. The opening point came down to the match at No. 3, which went to a tiebreaker. Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) and Julen Uriguen (Guatemala City, Guatemala), teaming for the first time in their careers, won the breaker 7-5 over Kevin King and Miguel Muguruza to clinch the doubles point.

In singles, the Yellow Jackets drew even in the match, 1-1, as O’Brien topped Shane 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5. Virginia retook the lead when Domijan closed out a 6-2, 7-6(5) win over King at the No. 2 spot. Uriguen topped Muguruza 7-5, 6-3 at No. 6 before Shabaz clinched the victory with his 6-3, 6-4 win over Gomez at No. 1, handing Gomez his only ACC loss of the season. Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) added a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 3 over Potvin and Jenkins closed out the match with a third-set match-tiebreaker win at No. 4 over Magin Ortiga.

“This was a good win over a very good Georgia Tech team,” said head coach Brian Boland. “Georgia Tech is No. 15 for a reason and they came out with a lot of energy and gave us a battle. We might not be at 100 percent, but that doesn’t take away from the performance of Georgia Tech, who pushed us today. Our guys are competitive and they find a way to get the job done. These matches will only serve to help us in the long run.”

The Cavaliers will be the No. 1 seed at next week’s ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C., where they will look for their fifth consecutive tournament title. After a first round bye, Virginia will open play on Friday in the quarterfinals.

#1 Virginia 6, #15 Georgia Tech 1

Doubles
1. Shabaz/Shane (UVa) def. Potvin/Smith (GT) 8-5
2. Gomez/O’Brien (GT) def. Domijan/Rooda (UVa) 8-0
3. Jenkins/Uriguen (UVa) def. King/Muguruza (GT) 9-8(5)

Singles
1. #8 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. #15 Guillermo Gomez (GT) 6-3, 6-4
2. #2 Alex Domijan (UVa) def. Kevin King (GT) 6-2, 7-6(5)
3. #32 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. Eliot Potvin (GT) 6-4, 6-4
4. #50 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) def. Magin Ortiga (GT) 6-3, 4-6, 10-7
5. Dean O’Brien (GT) def. Justin Shane (UVa) 6-1, 6-3
6. Julen Uriguen (UVa) def. Miguel Muguruza (GT) 7-5, 6-3

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