No. 1 Virginia Cruises Past Illinois 4-0 in NCAA Round of 16
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STANFORD, Calif. – The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh consecutive year with a 4-0 win over No. 18 Illinois Thursday night at the Taube South Courts. After waiting all day for a start that ended up being after 9:30 p.m., the Cavaliers quickly dispatched of the Fighting Illini, winning the match in just over two hours.
“I would never say a match is easy, and Illinois fought hard tonight,” said head coach Brian Boland. “We have played them three times this year and each time has been a battle. I thought our doubles play was really impressive. The guys came out and looked like they were ready to play from the get go. That then carried into singles. I was proud of the effort and it was a good start to the tournament.”
The Cavaliers opened the match by dominating doubles play, winning the opening point in just 33 minutes. Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) and Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) gave Virginia the early edge, blanking Johnny Hamui and Abe Souza 8-0 at the top spot. Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) closed out an 8-2 win at No. 2 over Brian Alden and Dennis Nevolo to clinch the point. Alex Domijan (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) led 7-2 at No. 3 in the match that was abandoned.
In singles, Virginia continued its momentum and won all six first sets. Domijan doubled the Cavalier advantage with his 6-2, 6-2 victory over KU Singh at No. 2. Jenkins made the score 3-0 with his 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4 over Souza seconds before Singh clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Roy Kalmanovich at No. 3.
The Cavaliers will meet host Stanford in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The match will begin at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET) at the Taube Tennis Center.
#1 Virginia 4, #18 Illinois 0
Doubles
1. #2 Courtney/Shabaz (UVa) def. #78 Hamui/Souza (Ill) 8-0
2. Jenkins/Uriguen (UVa) def. Alden/Nevolo (Ill) 8-2
3. Domijan/Singh (UVa) led Hoh/Singh (Ill) 7-2 DNF
Singles
1. #5 Michael Shabaz (UVa) led #15 Dennis Nevolo (Ill) 6-4, 4-1 DNF
2. #2 Alex Domijan (UVa) def. KU Singh (Ill) 6-2, 6-2
3. #34 Sanam Singh (UVa) def. #122 Roy Kalmanovich (Ill) 6-2, 6-4
4. #56 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) def. #81 Abe Souza (Ill) 6-3, 6-2
5. Justin Shane (UVa) led #104 Johnny Hamui (Ill) 6-2, 4-5 DNF
6. Julen Uriguen (UVa) vs. Bruno Abdelnour (Ill) 6-3, 3-6 DNF
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1,2
Singles: 2,4,3