Cavaliers focused, Boland feeling age

Virginia tennis coach Brian Boland quickly learned Tuesday why Texas truly is No Country for Old Men.
Having arrived in College Station on Sunday afternoon to become acclimated to the blistering heat that accompanies the NCAA Tennis Championships at Texas A&M, the only member of the Cavalier party that was worse for wear yesterday was the coach.
Don’t mess with Texas
Boland conducted this telephone interview while sprawled on a training table at A&M, getting an electronic stim treatment on his back after hitting balls with his players in preparation for Thursday’s Sweet 16 match against fellow conference member Florida State.
“The players are healthy,” Boland said. “It’s the coach you have to worry about. He thinks he’s a 21-year-old tennis player again. I still have this idea that I’m keeping up with those guys, but I’m falling apart.”
About that time, the UVa coach, who’s in his mid- to late 30’s, let out a mild scream.
“Ahhh, you’re killing me,” he moaned to the trainer.
The stim treatment requires attaching small devices on one’s back and when those devices are taken off, any hairs go with it.
It’s a bikini wax kind of pain, or so, I’m told.
Between screams though, Boland said that he’s not worried about the extreme heat of College Station, which topped out at 90 degrees on Tuesday and isn’t supposed to surpass that the rest of the week. That’s mild compared to UVa’s visit there in 2005 when the court temperatures measured at least 115 degrees ... and there is no shade.
“We’re not worried about it at all,” Boland said. “Certainly it’s going to be hot, but we’re mentally and physically better than we’ve ever been. It won’t get in the way. This team is so well conditioned that I think it will pay dividends for us throughout the tournament.”
Should the Cavaliers defeat FSU for the third time this season on Thursday, they get a day off Friday before resuming play.
A familiar foe
While facing a new opponent in the NCAAs can sometimes present a bit of a problem in terms of preparation, that’s not something Virginia will have to deal with in tomorrow’s match. The No. 1 ranked Cavs are well acquainted with the Seminoles, having defeated them both in the regular season and in the ACC Tournament.
“We’re playing a team that we know well,” Boland said. “Not only do we continue to learn through those matches, but the players pick up on things as well when they play the same opponent that many times within the same year.”
Normally the coaches go through a time consuming process of preparing a scouting report on each of the top seven singles players, in case the No. 7 man is inserted into the rotation. In addition, they have to have a scouting report for the three doubles teams, and an overall team scouting report.
So, there’s 10 or 11 scouting reports covered before each match, with coaches talking to each player individually, then as doubles partners and as a team.
Unlike the NCAA basketball tournament, where coaches can turn to a company in the Northeast to supply plenty of game tape on every Division I team in the country, the tennis coaches get what they can get.
“We are able to see teams and see players throughout their careers as well as throughout the year in tournaments,” Boland said. “In this case, we’re very familiar with Florida State, which is a big advantage.
“Other teams, particularly ones from the West Coast, or others we haven’t seen, we have to search a little bit for information.
Coaches trade scouting reports and they all have colleagues or other coaches in the business that they trust enough to gain enough knowledge to prevent going into a match blind.
While Boland decided to take the team out early, he likes the way his players have approached the event. Virginia has gone down in the team semifinals matches the past two years, both times to Georgia.
Still, he reported that the Cavaliers are focused and have displayed what he describes as an amazing amount of composure heading into the Round of 16 for the sixth consecutive year (only Baylor, Illinois and UCLA have longer active streaks than the Wahoos).
“Now the time has come and they need to embrace the experience and enjoy it and realize that it’s very important to keep their composure throughout the tournament,” the coach said.
“They’re in a good place both mentally and physically,” Boland said.
Now, if only the coach could make that same claim.
“Ouch, ouch, you’re killing me,” Boland yelled again.
No Tournament for Old Men.