Cavs’ champs return

One is known as “The Dominator,” the other as “Showbiz.”
On Tuesday evening at the Charlottesville Airport, they were each sporting some bling.
The Virginia men’s doubles team of Dom Inglot and Michael Shabaz, who won the NCAA doubles championship in College Station, Texas on Monday, were wearing their medals as Wahoo fans greeted them at the terminal.
Inglot and Shabaz, who were unseeded, became the first doubles team from the ACC to win an NCAA title, defeating No. 2 seed John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren of Tennessee, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.
The victory certainly took some of the sting out of getting upset by Southern Cal in the quarterfinals of the team tournament the week before.
“It does make up a lot for the team loss,” agreed Inglot, a London, England native. “We wish we could have done better in that, but this feels really good and we’re really happy. Michael and I put a lot of hard work in.”
With the win, Virginia won an NCAA Individual Championship for the third consecutive year. Former Cavalier Somdev Devvarman won the 2007 and 2008 NCAA singles championships. The last school to win NCAA individual titles in three consecutive years was Stanford from 1998-2000.
“The team event was pretty disappointing, but the best way we could kind of heal that was to win this,” said Shabaz, concurring with Inglot. “You’re playing for a lot of people — not just yourself — the University and all the supporters. To get it done is really special.”
The win was Inglot and Shabaz’s 41st of the season, a new school record.
Ranked No. 12 entering the tournament, the Cavalier duo became the lowest ranked team to take the title since 2002.
The title was the first-ever doubles championship for the ACC. Inglot and Shabaz were the first ACC team to reach the final since the start of the modern NCAA individual
championships in 1978.
Things didn’t come easy, though. Inglot and Shabaz dropped the first set in three of their five matches. 
“They showed a lot of resilience and toughness throughout the tournament,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland. “They had some really tough matches and kept battling back.
“I give them all the credit in the world.”
Midway through last season, it was Boland who decided to shake up his doubles lineup. After a performance against Clemson that left a lot to be desired, the coach paired Inglot with Shabaz and Houston Barrick with Sanam Singh.
This season, the move paid huge dividends as Virginia dropped just three doubles points.
“We get on so well off the court that it’s just a natural to get on so well on the court,” Inglot said. “I think our games complement each other really well.
“I think we just peaked at the right time and our
confidence was really high.”
Shabaz vividly recalled the conversation that he had with Boland in the car ride back from Clemson, just before the switches were made. “The next thing you know, like a year later, this happens,” Shabaz said. “It’s pretty cool.”
Shabaz, a Fairfax native, said it felt great to be able to get the victory for Inglot, a senior.
“For me, it was big to see Dom go out like that,” said the sophomore, “since it was possibly his last match as a Cavalier.”
Boland, while still hoping to obtain that elusive team title, had plenty of reasons to smile.
“This is a great way to end our season,” he said. “For the third straight year, we have won the final match we have played. This program keeps growing and keeps getting stronger, and we know that if we continue that hard work that there will be more success in the future.”