Virginia falls to Georgia in NCAA semis

By Whitey Reid

Published: May 19, 2008

TULSA, Okla. — The Virginia men’s tennis team’s dream of an undefeated championship season ended with a thud on Monday night at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Make that a cramp.
Tied at 3 with Georgia, Virginia’s hopes all came down to Sanam Singh’s No. 4 singles match against Jamie Hunt.
The freshman from India won the first set, but began cramping en route to dropping the second set. Singh was crushed in the third.
Hunt’s 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 triumph paved the way for a 4-3 Georgia win. The Bulldogs, who became the first team to defeat Virginia this season, will play Texas in the NCAA finals tonight at 7 p.m.
For No. 1-ranked UVa (32-1), it was a bitter ending to an otherwise storybook season — especially when you consider that the Cavs won the opening doubles point.
“I thought it was a great match,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland. “It didn’t end the way we expected it to, but at the same time I think my team left everything on the court and I’m really proud.
“It was unfortunate the way it had to end. I feel badly for Sanam, but that’s college athletics. This is when young men build character.”
The match featured some of the most entertaining doubles of the season. After Houston Barrick and Singh lost at No. 3, Virginia needed to win at both No. 1 (Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey) and No. 2 (Dom Inglot and Michael Shabaz) to earn the point.
Devvarman and Huey were cruising along until Huey ran into serving problems. Up 7-4, Huey double-faulted four times in the game. Georgia’s Hunt and Nate Schnugg looked poised for a momentum-changing break, but Huey somehow righted himself and closed out the match.
Attention quickly turned to the next court where Inglot and Shabaz were up two breaks on Luis Flores and Javier Garrapiz and serving for the match at 7-4.
However, Inglot, who had been playing lights out, suddenly got a case of the heebie jeebies and lost his serve.
Leading 7-6, Shabaz had a chance to close out the Bulldogs, but he too was broken.
At that point, with the match tied up, all of the momentum seemed to be going Georgia’s way.
But that’s when Inglot and Shabaz broke right back to go up 8-7.
Inglot, with another chance to serve out the match, double-faulted on the first point. However, the Englishman bounced back and — with the help of two perfect poaches from Shabaz — closed out Georgia to earn the point.
At that juncture, Boland certainly liked his chances.
“I really thought we had the momentum,” Boland said. “It has been several years I think since we won the doubles point and lost the match.
“To say I’m surprised would be an understatement, but at the same time you have to give Georgia credit.”
Virginia started very poorly in the singles, dropping five out of the first six opening sets. The most stunning match was Devvarman’s at No. 1. Virginia’s co-captain played some of his worst tennis of the season in losing the first set, 6-2, to Travis Helgeson. However, he was able to bounce back and win the next two sets.
Devvarman’s victory, coupled with Ted Angelinos’ win at No. 6, kept UVa — which had lost at No. 2 (Huey), No. 3 (Inglot) and No. 5 (Shabaz) — alive.
Unfortunately for Virginia, Singh’s leg began cramping up with the match tied at 3 in the second set.
When the set was over, he was allowed a 10-minute break because the game-time temperature had reached over 90 degrees. Singh then took a three-minute medical timeout.
“He did everything he could,” Boland said, “but there just wasn’t enough in the tank.”
Hunt said he would have rather played a healthy Singh.
“It takes a little about away from the victory because I wanted us to play when we were both 100 percent,” he said. “I think it would have been an unbelievable match. It just would have been so much fun.”
At the post-match press conference, Devvarman — who finished the dual meet season undefeated — looked devastated.
“Our record speaks for itself,” said Devvarman, speaking in hushed tones. “It was a special year. This obviously wasn’t where we wanted it to end, but this is how it is. This is the reality of it.”
Devvarman, Huey and Inglot will begin play in the individual portion of the tournament that begins Wednesday.
Boland said nobody should be hanging their heads.
“These are special people,” he said. “In my 12 years of coaching, nothing compares to these men. They’re the real deal. I lived the dream as a coach. I’m a blessed person.”