MEN’S TENNIS: Cavs stay perfect

By Whitey Reid

Published: April 6, 2008

DURHAM, N.C. — The score was knotted at 10 and in a tiebreaker when Virginia sophomore Houston Barrick rifled a first serve that clipped the top of the net and trickled over into the Duke service box.
In most matches, the shot would have counted as a net and Barrick would have been awarded two additional serves.
But on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Ambler Tennis Stadium, the play went down as a net-cord ace and a point for Virginia.
Welcome to college tennis.
The stroke of good fortune propelled Barrick and teammate Michael Shabaz to a 9-8 win in No. 2 doubles over Duke’s Reid Carleton and Kiril Dimitrov.
“We were telling him that we hoped he had planned it like that,” said Virginia senior co-captain Treat Huey, smiling. “He was like, ‘For sure. [I] was hoping to hit it into the net and for it to barely go over.’”
The victory enabled No. 1-ranked Virginia to earn the doubles point en route to a relatively easy 5-2 win over No. 41 Duke.
The win capped another impressive weekend for coach Brian Boland’s undefeated squad. On Friday, the Cavaliers (23-0, 9-0) had no problems with No. 10 North Carolina, beating the Tar Heels on their turf, 5-2.
Sunday’s match, originally scheduled to begin at 1 p.m., started about 40 minutes late because the courts were still damp following an early-morning drizzle. Some consideration was given to moving things indoors, but Boland thought it was important for his guys to get used to playing outside in less-than-ideal weather conditions.
Devvarman said the team really wanted to play outside.
“We’ve been having a real good week of practicing outside and our whole team is really tough — the cold weather doesn’t faze us,” said the senior co-captain. “We wanted to take the toughness factor into the match.”
Barrick and Shabaz were playing together because Shabaz’ partner, Dom Inglot, had the flu. Their win was an important one since Virginia split its other doubles matches.
The No. 1 team of Devvarman and Huey lost to David Goulet and Christopher Price, 9-7, while the No. 3 squad of Ted Angelinos and Lee Singer knocked off Dylan Arnould and Alex Stone, 8-5.
“We had our chances,” said Devvarman. “They just played a little better at the end. Treat and I just weren’t ourselves, but that’s what happens in an eight-game pro set. It goes by quick.”
With Inglot under the weather, Boland was forced to tinker with his singles lineup against the Blue Devils (7-10, 4-3). Sanam Singh played at No. 3; Shabaz was at No. 4; Barrick played at No. 5; Angelinos at No. 6.
The No. 1-ranked Devvarman, as usual, set the tone, defeating Goulet, 6-4, 6-4. It was his 25th straight singles win — a new school record.
“Somdev was hitting winners and just on fire today,” Huey said.
Huey, the No. 31 player in the country, wasn’t too shabby, either. He beat the 50th-ranked Carleton, 7-6, 6-4.
Angelinos, meanwhile, extended his singles winning streak to 18 matches with an easy 6-4, 6-1 win over Jared Pinsky.
“Outdoors Ted is unbelievable – almost unbeatable we feel,” Huey said.
So far this season, the same can be said for Virginia.
ACES
Duke leads the all-time series with Virginia, 53-28, but UVa has won six of the last seven meetings. …Shabaz and Barrick lost their singles matches…Virginia concludes its regular season this weekend. The Cavs host N.C. State on Friday and Wake Forest on Sunday.