The No. 2 Virginia men's tennis team picked up right where it left off last season after going undefeated in the regular season and winning the ACC title. On Monday, the Cavaliers opened their 2010 dual match season with a 15-0 victory over No. 75 William & Mary at Boar's Head. This was the 49th consecutive home win for the 'Hoos, and the first loss of the year for the Tribe. The match used an alternative scoring method agreed upon by both teams. It consisted of five doubles matches and ten singles matches, all worth one point for a total of 15 points available.
Play opened with the Nos. 7-10 singles matches. The Cavaliers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, as Philippe Oudshoorn, No. 80 Steven Eelkman Rooda, Santiago Villegas, and Dino Dell'Orto all posted victories. Oudshoorn was the only one who needed to take it to a tiebreak, as the other three simply handled their opponents.
All five doubles matches were won by the Wahoos, leading to a 9-0 lead. Sanam Singh and Michael Shabaz upset the No. 26 Tribe duo of Keziel Juneau and Sebastien Vidal. Jarmere Jenkins/Houston Barrick, No. 17 Drew Courtney/Lee Singer, Rooda/Oudshoorn, and Julen Uriguen/Villegas all posted wins as well.
Virginia closed out the match with wins in the No. 1-6 singles matches as well, with No. 12 Singh topping #122 Juneau, and No. 3 Shabaz, No. 16 Jenkins, No. 31 Courtney, No. 58 Barrick, and No. 28 Singer also all posting victories.
"This was a good start to the season," said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. "We have had a good couple of weeks of practice and it was nice to be able to get the season started. This format was a great opportunity to let a lot of players get competitive matches in, and that is so important this time of the season. We appreciate William & Mary for agreeing to play the match with this format. They have a great team and it proved to be a great dual match."
Virginia goes on the road this weekend to take on Illinois and Notre Dame.