The No. 2 Virginia Cavaliers' Men's Tennis team is facing what will probably be their toughest weekend of the regular season, but are handling it just fine. The Hoos took down No. 15 Texas in decided fashion last night, blanking them 7-0 in the season home opener and handing the Longhorns their first loss of the season.

All three doubles teams took care of business decidedly. Four of the six singles matches were decided in only two sets, though No. 1 Mitchell Frank needed a third set match tiebreak (10-3) to finish off Texas's Sudanwa Sitaram. Birthday boy Drew Courtney also needed a third set to clinch his win - both of his winning sets were won in tiebreak.

Former Virginia tennis great and two-time NCAA National Champion Somdev Devvarman was at the match supporting the Hoos. Devvarman has risen to No. 90 in the world and is holds the record for the highest ATP ranking held by a former Cavalier (62).

At No. 2, this is the lowest Virginia, 2-0, have been ranked since February, 2009. The Cavaliers are still in search of their first national team title, having been bounced out of the tournament by USC in each of the past three years.

The Hoos will face No. 5 Florida today at 1:00 p.m., then No. 11 Texas A&M on Sunday, before ACC play opens up later in the week against Maryland. All of this weekend's matches are held at Boar's Head and admission is free.

Here are last night's results:

#2 VIRGINIA 7, #15 TEXAS 0

Doubles:
1. Jenkins/Courtney (UVa) def. Hess-Olesen/Hilliard (UT) 8-3
2. Domijan/Rooda (UVa) def. Holiner/Whitehead (UT) 8-1
3. Frank/Uriguen (UVa) def. Camillone/Lewis (UT) 8-4

Singles:
1. #11 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) def. Soren Hess-Olesen (UT) 6-2, 6-2
2. Alex Domijan (UVa) def. #112 Daniel Whitehead (UT) 6-2, 6-1
3. #1 Mitchell Frank (UVa) def. Sudanwa Sitaram (UT) 6-2, 3-6, 10-3
4. Drew Courtney (UVa) def. Lloyd Glasspool (UT) 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(6)
5. #57 Justin Shane (UVa) def. Chris Camillone (UT) 6-4, 6-4
6. Philippe Oudshoorn (UVa) def. Jacoby Lewis (UT) 6-3, 6-2

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

We missed this story over the weekend, but Virginia freshman Mitchell Frank became the second consecutive freshman Cavalier to win the ITA All-American singles championship, following in the footsteps of sophomore Alex Domijan. Virginia and Stanford are the only two schools to have a freshman win the event, with each school doing so twice.  Georgia is the only other school to win the event back to back years.

Frank is ranked the No. 1 freshman/newcomer by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, who released their preseason rankings last month.  Sophomore Alex Domijan is ranked the overall No. 1 in singles. The only other UVA player to start the season ranked No. 1 is Somdev Devvarman, who went on to win two individual national championships while at Virginia.

Jarmere Jenkins is ranked No. 18, Drew Courtney No. 21, Julen Uriguen No. 65 and Justin Shane No. 82.  Two doubles teams were also ranked by the ITA -- Drew Courtney and Steven Rooda at No. 12 and Jarmere Jenkins and Julen Uriguen at No. 52.

Virginia hosts the UVa Fall Classic this weekend, the ITA Atlantic Regional next weekend, and the USTA Charlottesville Challenger the following weekend as part of their Fall tennis schedule.

Record: (34-1), 11-0 ACC.  Finish: Loss in NCAA Finals vs. USC.  ACC Champions

Just going to break down the segments of an amazing season, one that ended just a bit too soon.  

ITA National Team Indoor Championships:  This early season event has always been a Cavalier favorite.  The team took it for the fourth consecutive year, romping Tennessee 4-0 in the final to seal the deal.

Regular Season: The meat of the season has not been much of a concern in recent UVA tennis history.  Last year, UVA dropped just one match in this part of its schedule...and there was nowhere to go but up from there, as the team went undefeated this season.  Not much else to be said here, as the Hoos were simply dominant, never giving up more than 2 team points in a match.  This is a team that doesn't expect to lose; they ended on a 74 game ACC winning streak and an 83 game overall streak at home.

Postseason:

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Record: 20-8 (7-4 ACC); advanced to NCAA Sweet Sixteen for first time in program history.

MVP: Lindsey Hardenbergh

Hardenbergh played at #1 singles for most of the year, compiling a stellar 9-1 record at that spot and an incredible 24-3 record overall, including 11-0 in ACC competition. She was also part of two doubles teams, teaming with Caryssa Peretz to go 2-0 at #3 doubles and with Erin Vierra to go 18-4 (6-3 at #1, 9-1 at #2 and 3-0 at #3). She finished the season ranked as the #27 player in the country.

Overview: The women's tennis team has looked to be "almost there" for a number of years now. This year they finally showed that they are here, notching the most wins in program history (20) and going as deeper into the NCAA tournament than any Virginia team had gone before (Sweet 16). And they did it without a single senior on the roster. The two best players, Emily Fraser and Lindsey Hardenbergh were both juniors. Most of the other contributors were sophomores and even a few freshmen got in the mix. This is a team on the move.

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It was about 24 hours too late, but senior co-captain Michael Shabaz acknowledged that he had realized he was playing for much more for himself. On Sunday, Virginia men's tennis saw their season officially come to an end when Shabaz elected to retire from the NCAA Tournament semifinal match against Steve Johnson of USC after some questionable line calling from the chair umpire.

USC's Johnson took the first set 7-6 (4), but it was not without controversy. With a 6-5 lead and a 30-40 break set point, Shabaz hit a shot that caught the baseline and was ruled good by the linesman, but was overruled by the chair umpire. This cost Shabaz the first set, as Johnson would eventually hold and force a tiebreaker.

In the second set, Shabaz was serving 2-3, about to be broken at 30-40. After his first serve went long, he hit Johnson's return out of his way to prepare for his second serve, causing the ball to go into the stands. The chair umpire would penalize him a point, giving Johnson the 4-2 break point. It was at that time that Shabaz decided to shake hands with the umpire and walk off the court.

"I rushed to the court, and just as I got there to push him away, the umpire was saying, ‘Game, set, match. Shabaz retired,'" head coach Brian Boland said in an interview with the Daily Progress's Whitey Reid.

"Looking back now a day after - it was an emotional decision that I made," Shabaz told the Daily Progress. "At that moment, I was more selfish in thinking about the immediate gratification of walking off the court - and not realizing that I was playing for much more than myself in the tournament."

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Another bizarre ending, and the Virginia Tennis season is now in the history books.

After a furious comeback and a heartbreaking loss in the Men's Tennis team finals, five Hoos competed in the NCAA Singles Championships: Michael Shabaz, Alex Domijan, Saman Singh, Jarmere Jenkins and Drew Courtney. Fourth-year Shabaz advanced the furthest of any Cavalier, defeating Henrique Cunha of Duke 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the semifinals for the first time in his career. (Good interview with Shabaz here after that quarterfinal win.)

Shabaz, the tournament's #3 seed, was the fourth Cavalier to reach the NCAA singles semifinals. In the semis on Sunday, he faced the tournament's top seed, USC's Steve Johnson. After losing the first set in a tie-breaker, things got strange:

In the second set, both players held easily through the first five games, with Johnson holding a 3-2 lead. As Shabaz served at 2-3, he faced the first break point of the set at 30-40. After his first serve was long, he hit Johnson's return out of the way to prepare for a second serve. That swing caused the ball to leave the stadium and Shabaz was given a point penalty for ball abuse, giving Johnson the break and a 4-2 lead. Following the call, Shabaz chose to retire from the match.

Make of that what you will; I hope to hear the full story soon. Either way, the end result is that Virginia's five-year streak of having a NCAA singles or doubles finalist comes to an end. A somewhat disappointing end to a brilliant season.

On the women's side, Lindsey Hardenbergh and Emily Fraser competed in the Singles Championships. Fraser lost her first round match to Allie Will of Florida, but Hardenbergh advanced to the round of 16. In the first round, Hardenbergh defeated Alex Cercone of Florida. In the process, Hardenbergh became the first Cavalier woman to win a match in the NCAA Singles.

Unfortunately, Hardenbergh ultimately fell in the round of 16, losing 6-2, 6-3 to Nina Secerbegovic of Baylor. That loss took none of the luster off a brilliant season for Hardenbergh and the Virginia women. Hardenbergh ended the season with a 42-9 singles record, the best mark in program history. She also became the first Cavalier women's tennis All-American.

The best news for the Virginia women? After the best season in program history, every single player on the roster is eligible to return next season.

These are good times indeed for tennis at the University of Virginia.

I feel like I've been punched in the gut.

Virginia almost pulled off a comeback for the ages this afternoon in the championship match of the NCAA Men's Tennis tournament, but fell just short of the first national championship in school history, losing to Southern Cal, 4-3. It was Virginia's first loss of the season, and one of the most heartbreaking losses in recent memory.

Coming into the match, Virginia was undefeated (as noted) and ranked #1 in the country. Their opponent in the NCAA final was USC, the two-time defending champ. All expected a heavyweight fight, and that's exactly what everyone in attendance at Stanford's Taube Tennis Center saw.

Early on, it appeared that Virginia was going to be routed. After quickly losing the doubles point, Virginia lost five of the first six sets in singles play. Shortly thereafter, USC wrapped up straight set victories at #5 and #1 singles to take a commanding 3-0 lead, one point from a third consecutive championship.

As expected, however, there was no quit in coach Brian Boland's Cavaliers.

Virginia needed to win each of the remaining four matches, and all four would be pushed to a decisive third set. Alex Domijan got the Hoos on the board with a thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at #2 singles. Sixth-seed Julen Uriguen then won his match 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. All of a sudden, Virginia was on the verge of a historic comeback.

With a win at #4 singles, Jarmere Jenkins knotted up the match and all eyes were on the final match of the day, at #3 singles, between UVa's Sanam Singh and USC's Daniel Nguyen. Nguyen won the first set 7-5, but Singh roared back to take the second set 6-0. With the national championship on the line, Singh and Nguyen played an epic third set, full of net cords and broken serves.

"Even down 3-0, I was confident out there," said Boland. "There was great fight in these guys. We lost the doubles point, we lost five first sets, but we kept fighting and got back into the match. Sanam got back on serve in his match and it came down to a few net cords and an incredible second point by Daniel Nguyen, and that was the difference. Those are the kinds of matches that make the NCAA Tournament so special. We just game up on the short end today."

Down 2-5 in the decisive set, Singh kept battling. He held serve to draw the set to 3-5, then broke Nguyen in a game featuring no fewer than four deuce points. All of a sudden, the set was back on serve. Virginia fans all over the country (thanks to the ESPNU broadcast) were on the edge of their seats, and Singh's teammates were on their feet.

Then, just as quickly as Singh had evened up the match, it was over. Nguyen promptly broke Singh's serve in a heartbreaking game, giving Southern Cal the championship.

"This was a great college tennis match and I am proud of the team," said head coach Brian Boland. "All the credit to USC for playing a great match. They certainly came out and took it to us in doubles and then early in singles. My guys left everything they had on the court and battled back to get back even in the match. It was going to be a tough match for someone to lose. It was a tremendous experience for us to compete for a national title and I am sure we will learn from this experience."

Classy comments by Boland, but this is getting frustrating. In 2009, USC beat Virginia in the quarters. In 2010, USC defeated the Hoos in the semifinals. Now, Southern Cal has beaten the good guys in the final, by a razor-thin margin, in a year that everything had gone right for Virginia.

Again: heartbreaking.

Three Cavaliers were named to the All-Tournament Team: Domijan, Singh, and Jenkins. Those three, plus Michael Shabaz and Drew Courtney will compete in the NCAA Singles Tournament, which begins on Wednesday.

Kudos to Coach Boland and the Hoos for a wonderful season. (Full results below.)

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With a 4-2 win over Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament semi-finals, the Virginia men's tennis team continued a season for the ages by earning a place in the tourney's championship match. The final, which takes place on Tuesday, will be a battle of heavyweights, as the top-ranked and undefeated Cavaliers will face two-time defending champions USC.

Early in the match against Ohio State, it appeared that UVa was in for another epic struggle (after the razor-tight match against Stanford in the quarters). The Buckeyes took the doubles point, but Virginia rebounded by capturing four of the first six sets in singles. The Hoos captured their first point at #2 singles, when Alex Domijan routed the #10-ranked player in the country (Chase Buchanan), 6-2, 6-2. Shortly thereafter, Virginia took the lead when Michael Shabaz defeated #4-ranked Biaz Rola in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, in the #1 singles match.

Ohio State briefly tied the match with a victory at #5 singles, before Jarmere Jenkins and Sanam Singh each won three-set matches at #4 and #3 singles, respectively, to finish out the contest and send Virginia to the finals.

"I am really proud of the team today," said head coach Brian Boland. "We overcame the adversity of losing the doubles point. I was proud of how we came out in singles and refocused on the match. Ohio State is a great team and we have had a lot of great battles with them in recent years. I am happy that we were able to pull through and have a chance to play for a championship tomorrow."

Surprisingly, UVa will be the first ACC school to compete in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship match. The Hoos have their work cut out for them; Virginia has been knocked out of the NCAA tourney by Southern Cal in each of the last two years. You can watch the championship match at 3pm ET on Tuesday, on ESPNU.

Full results below the fold.

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