Virginia Upset in NCAA Semifinals by Georgia 4-3

Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Somdev Devvarman

TULSA, Okla. – Top-seeded Virginia suffered its first loss of the season Monday night, falling to No. 4 Georgia 4-3 in the NCAA Semifinals at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The Cavaliers won the doubles point, but the Bulldogs rallied to win four singles matches to advance to the NCAA final for the third consecutive year.

The Cavaliers (32-1) took the doubles point for a 1-0 lead in the match. After Georgia (26-3) took an early edge with an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles where Travis Helgeson and Christian Vitulli topped Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) and Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India), the Cavaliers took the other two matches. At No. 1, top-ranked Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.) topped Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg 8-4. With the opening point on the line, Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) and Dominic Inglot (London, England) took a 7-4 lead at No. 2 doubles against Luis Flores and Javier Garrapiz. However, the Bulldog duo fought back to tie the match at 7-7. In the ensuing game, the Cavalier team broke Garrapiz’s serve and Inglot held his in the next to secure the 9-7 win.

Georgia came out strong in singles, going up a break early in all six matches. In only one match was Virginia able to rally to take the first set, as Singh won his first set against Hunt at No. 4.

Of the five matches Georgia won the first set in, the Bulldogs won three of those matches in straight sets, with Flores (No. 3), Schnugg (No.2) and Garrapiz (No. 5) recording victories. Virginia rallied to win in three sets in the other two matches as Angelinos topped Vitulli 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 singles and Devvarman defeated Helgeson 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 1 singles.

In the final match on the courts, Hunt rallied to win the second set at No. 4 after Singh had won the first. In the final set, Singh was hampered by cramps and Hunt took the decisive set to win the match.

Angelinos’ win was his 24th consecutive victory, as he ends his senior season with a 33-3 overall record and a 24-0 dual match record. Devvarman extended his school record singles win streak to 30 matches, as he improves to 38-1 on the year.

The Cavaliers end the season in the semifinals for the second consecutive year, the only two NCAA Semifinal appearances in ACC history.

Three members of the team will begin play in the NCAA Individual Championships on Wednesday in Tulsa. Devvarman, Huey and Inglot are in the 64-player singles draw and Devvarman and Huey are in the 32-team doubles draw.

No. 4 Georgia 4, No. 1 Virginia 3

Doubles:
1. #1 Devvarman/Huey (UVa) def. #17 Hunt/Schnugg (UGA) 8-4
2. Shabaz/Inglot (UVa) def. Garrapiz/Flores (UGA) 9-7
3. Helgeson/Vitulli (UGA) def. Barrick/Singh (UVa) 8-5

Singles:
1. #1 Somdev Devvarman (UVa) def. #4 Travis Helgeson (UGA) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. #15 Nate Schnugg (UGA) def. #28 Treat Huey (UVa) 6-4, 6-2
3. #59 Luis Flores (UGA) def. #17 Dominic Inglot (UVa) 6-2, 6-1
4. #38 Jamie Hunt (UGA) def. Sanam Singh (UVa) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
5. #121 Javier Garrapiz (UGA) def. Michael Shabaz (UVa) 7-5, 6-3
6. Ted Angelinos (UVa) def. Christian Vitulli (UGA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

Order of Finish: Doubles- 3,1,2 • Singles- 3,2,5,6,1,4
Records: Virginia (32-1), Georgia (26-3)