No. 1 Virginia Tops Wake Forest 4-1 to Reach Round of 16

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CHARLOTTESVILLE – The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team advanced to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 for the eighth consecutive year with a 4-1 win over No. 33 Wake Forest in a second round match Saturday afternoon at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers (31-0) will travel to Stanford next week and meet Illinois in the round of 16 on Thursday.

“Give Wake Forest a lot of credit today,” said head coach Brian Boland. “They played a very gritty match and, despite being shorthanded, had one of their best performances of the season. We struggled a little bit but we will be all right. We showed a lot of toughness at the end. We faced some adversity and hopefully coming through it like we did will pay off for in the long run.”

The Cavaliers opened the match by winning the doubles point. Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) and Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) posted a win at No. 3, topping Adam Lee and Amogh Prabhakar 8-2. At No. 2, Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) and Julen Uriguen (Guatemala City, Guatemala) clinched the point for Virginia with their 8-2 win over Danny Kreyman and Jonathan Wolff.

In singles, the Cavaliers quickly doubled their lead as Singh posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Kreyman at No. 3. Domijan added a 6-3, 7-5 win over Iain Atkinson at No. 2 to extend the advantage to 3-0. Lee got the Demon Deacons (14-12) a point with his three-set win over Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) at the No. 5 position. Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) recorded the clinching victory at No. 1, rallying from dropping the first set and from down a break, 4-2, in the third set for a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Wolff. Virginia was up a break in the third set of both matches that were abandoned.

With the victory, the Cavaliers remain undefeated in home NCAA Tournament matches (16-0) and extended their school-record home winning streak to 89 consecutive matches. The win was also their 78th consecutive victory over ACC opposition.

The Cavaliers will meet Illinois in the round of 16 on Thursday at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif. The Fighting Illini defeated North Carolina 4-1 in the second round to advance. It will be the third match of the season between Virginia and Illinois. The Cavaliers won the regular season match in Charlottesville 7-0 on Jan. 21 and won the rematch 4-1 in the ITA National Team Indoor quarterfinals in Seattle on Feb. 19.

#1 Virginia 4, #33 Wake Forest 1

Doubles
1. #2 Courtney/Shabaz (UVa) led #35 Atkinson/Hopkins (WF) 6-4 DNF
2. Jenkins/Uriguen (UVa) def. Kreyman/Wolff (WF) 8-2
3. Domijan/Singh (UVa) def. Lee/Prabhakar (WF) 8-2

Singles
1. #5 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. #91 Jonathan Wolff (WF) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
2. #2 Alex Domijan (UVa) def. Iain Atkinson (WF) 6-3, 7-5
3. #34 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. Danny Kreyman (WF) 6-2, 6-2
4. #56 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) led David Hopkins (WF) 5-7, 7-6(2), 2-1 DNF
5. Adam Lee (WF) def. #39 Drew Courtney (UVa) 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
6. Justin Shane (UVa) led Amogh Prabhakar (WF) 7-6(5), 3-6, 4-1

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