NCAA’s finest descend on city

These days, it’s somewhat rare when college men’s and women’s tennis events are held simultaneously.

That, coupled with the unbelievable amount of competition that will be on hand from all across the country, makes the ITA Indoor National Championships, which kick off today at the Boar’s Head Sports Club, unique.

The Virginia men’s team will have three players in the singles field and two teams in the doubles. The women’s squad will have one player in singles and one in doubles.

“We had a great fall, and this is the accumulation of all our hard work — having the opportunity to host our first-ever national championship,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland. “I believe it’s an exciting time for Virginia tennis, both on the men’s and women’s side.”

The four-day tournament, which begins at 10 a.m. and is open to the public, is the first national collegiate tennis championship to be held in Charlottesville. The men’s singles field features 17 of the preseason top 20 players in the country while the women’s field is highlighted by 13 players in the preseason top 20 rankings.

Dominic Inglot, Michael Shabaz and Sanam Singh will represent the men in singles. The squads of Singh and Houston Barrick, and Inglot and Shabaz will compete in doubles.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for our players to go out and compete against the best,” said Boland, whose team won the national indoor individual and team championships last season that took place in Columbus, Ohio, and Seattle. “This is one of the grand slams of college tennis. We couldn’t be more excited. We’re really grateful that the administration and Boar’s Head came together to host such an outstanding and prestigious event.”

Meanwhile, the Virginia women will have Jennifer Stevens in the 32-player singles field and the team of Amanda Rales and Maggie Yahner in the 16-team doubles field.

“It’s an incredible opportunity,” echoed Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau, whose team was granted a wild-card entry into the event. “Not just for them, but really for the whole team, even though not everybody is directly participating. This is the level that we all want to be earning our way into eventually, so to have some of our players in there is a great opportunity.”

Guilbeau said he is looking forward to seeing how Stevens — who earned her way into the event by winning an intra-team tournament — performs.

“I think Jenny right now is playing as well as she has since she’s been at UVa,” Guilbeau. said. “It’s definitely been her most solid fall season to date.”

Guilbeau, however, sounded like he was trying to keep his expectations realistic.

“There won’t be an easy match out there,” he said, “whether you’re a wild-card player or one of the top players in the country.”