Boland’s Team Eyes NCAA Run

Michael Shabaz and the Hoos open NCAA Tournament play this week. (Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics Media Relations)

At this point last season, Virginia tennis coach Brian Boland was pretty confident. Entering Final Four play, his veteran nucleus surrounded by up-and-coming youngsters was a staggering 32-0, having ripped through opponents all season long. Led by Somdev Devvarman, Virginia was ready to take it all.

“We felt like it was the perfect storm,” Boland said. “We had everything going our way. We were 32-0. We had a lot of momentum. We felt like we were playing the best tennis that we had played all year long and we got a little bit unlucky in the Final Four. The same thing happened two years ago. So you can never say we are going to win this or we are going to win a championship.”

Lesson learned. Entering the NCAA Tournament this weekend, Boland is plenty aware that anything can happen, even to the most talented of teams. But this season, even from the beginning, hasn’t had much in common with last season.

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