Next stop for Virginia: College Station

In the past, Virginia coach Brian Boland says that Michael Shabaz has had a habit of letting his performance in his doubles affect his singles.

But on Saturday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center, that was far from the case.

Shabaz, teaming with Dom Inglot, lost in doubles to North Carolina, but came back with vengeance in his singles, pacing Virginia to a 4-0 NCAA tournament victory that advanced the Cavaliers (31-0) to a round of 16 tilt against Florida State that kicks off on Thursday in College Station, Texas.

The win was UVa’s third over UNC this season.

“I’m proud of the way we played,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland. “We have a lot of respect for North Carolina. They’ve always had good teams, and this was no different.

“But, again, we just keep getting better and better.”

Shabaz lived up to his nickname of “Showbiz,” obliterating UNC’s Brennan Boyajian, winning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. The match was over before the majority of the other singles matches had completed a set.

“I started feeling it early with my returns,” said Shabaz, a sophomore. “I started making a lot of first serves and just went into [the match] with the attitude of taking the first ball and just crushing it.

“He’s kind of a defensive player and I knew he was going to run around a lot, so I just tried to crush it and move him around, and the ball started falling in for me.”

The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead by winning a close doubles point.

The Tar Heels (17-11) gained an early advantage as No. 17 Taylor Fogleman and Clay Donato topped No. 12 Shabaz and Dom Inglot, 8-3 at the top position.

But Virginia knotted things up as Lee Singer and Drew Courtney defeated Boyajian and Zach Hunter, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles.

No. 13 Sanam Singh and Houston Barrick clinched the opening point with their 8-5 win over Andrew Crone and Alex Raifee at No. 2 doubles.

In singles, Virginia won all six first sets. Virginia went up 2-0 as Shabaz, jumping all over Boyajian’s second serve, cruised to his win.

“Usually I try to slice the return,” Shabaz said, “but I was just taking it and ripping it. They started going in cross-court and down the line and then I just started picking it apart.”

UNC coach Sam Paul said he was a bit surprised with how quick Shabaz took care of Boyajian.

“If you look at Shabaz’ record, he’s one of the best players in the country,” Paul said. “With the depth of their team, you wouldn’t say he’s a [number] three player — he’s just a great player.”

Courtney added a 6-2, 6-1 win over Hunter at the No. 5 position to make the score 3-0. Singh then clinched the win with his 7-5, 6-4 win over Fogleman at No. 2 singles.

Now, Virginia is focused on erasing the bitter memory of last season when it was upset by Georgia in the Final Four.

“We know that nobody is going to give it to us,” Shabaz said. “We have to go out there and act as if nothing has happened so far and that it’s a new tournament and just play match by match.

“Obviously we’re the No. 1 seed and everybody’s going to be gunning for us, but we have to treat it like neutral ground. We have to go play and the best team will win.”

Aces

Singh and Barrick set the new school record for doubles victories with 39, eclipsing the record set by Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey last season. … Super fan Alex Inglot, the 28-year-old brother of Dom Inglot who works as a lawyer in England, was back in action, wearing an orange prison jump suit that read “criminally insane” on the back. “If I was the other team, I would be scared,” said sophomore Sanam Singh. “It’s really intimidating for the other team when he’s screaming, ‘Dom’s brother’s got a one-day release!’”