Cavs struggle at Boar’s Head

Often times, the hardest kind of tennis opponent is the one whose sole focus is keeping the ball in play via high-arcing topspin shots. The points tend to be long, leading to both mental and physical fatigue.

Such was the challenge facing Arkansas’ Aurelija Miseviciute, the No. 1 seed in the ITA National Indoor Championships that kicked off on Thursday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

But Miseviciute persevered through the moonballs, defeating Notre Dame’s Kelcy Tefft, 6-2, 6-4.

“I kind of knew what kind of player she would be because I’ve seen her play before,” said Miseviciute, who takes on Florida State’s Katie Rybakova today, “so I was prepared for it and had a gameplan for it.

“I think it was a good first match to have because the points were long. I felt like I had a lot of tennis today, which gets me experience for my next match.”

On the men’s side, No. 1 Oleksandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State defeated Louisville’s Austen Childs, 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, Virginia’s men’s players had a somewhat tough day.

Michael Shabaz lost to Tulsa’s Arnau Brugues, 7-6, 6-2, while Dom Inglot fell to Rice’s Bruno Rosa, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4.

“I just felt like my serve, which is my strongest point, really wasn’t going anywhere,” said Inglot, who, along with Shabaz, will now attempt to advance through the losers’ bracket. “My first-serve percentage was below 50 percent. If I want to be playing well, that can’t be happening.”

Sophomore Sanam Singh was a bright spot for UVa, defeating Fresno Pacific’s Fabio Silva, 6-2,

6-2. Today, Singh will play eighth-seeded Bryan Koniecko of Ohio State at 12:30 p.m.

In doubles, Inglot and Shabaz lost to Cal’s Geoff Chizever and Pedro Zerbini, 8-6, while Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh defeated Texas A&M’s Austin Krajicek and Conor Pollock, 9-7.

“We were really solid today,” Barrick said. “We were solid on our serves and at the net. We got a break at 6-all and that was it.”

On the women’s side, Virginia’s Jennifer Stevens had an impressive 6-3, 6-4 victory over Baylor’s Taylor Ormond, while Amanda Rales and Maggie Yahner lost to LSU’s Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg, 8-4.

Virginia coach Marc Guilbeau couldn’t have been more pleased with Stevens’ performance.

“She played extremely well,” Guilbeau said. “Jenny didn’t have a single bad stretch. In most matches you’re going to have ups and downs but she was really good throughout.

“The momentum was always on her side. To her credit, she kept it that way emotionally and mentally.

Today, Stevens will look to build on her effort when she takes on sixth-seeded Fani Chifchieva of Auburn at 2 p.m.

“We know she’s capable of doing this,” Guilbeau said, “but she’s got to believe it and get out there and have this kind of success to build more belief.”