In the past, the Virginia men’s and women’s tennis teams have turned watching the NCAA tournament selection show at the Boar’s Head Sports Club into something of an event.
Not this year.
In the wake of the lacrosse tragedy that occurred on Monday, the atmosphere was more subdued this time around.
“It was a tragic event,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland. “Everyone is doing the best we can to support our players as we prepare for the NCAA tournament.”
As expected, the Virginia men (35-1) were tabbed as the No. 1 seed and will host first- and second-round action beginning Saturday, May 15 — the same weekend that the Virginia lacrosse teams will be playing in the NCAA tournament.
UVa will take on Navy (16-13), with the winner taking on the Wake Forest-Columbia winner on May 16. The Wahoos, who recently won their fourth straight ACC championship, easily defeated Navy in the first round of the tournament last season.
The Virginia women, meanwhile, will also open up at home. The 27th-ranked Cavaliers (14-9), who will be hosting a regional for the first time in program history, play Princeton on May 14, with the winner advancing to face the Duke-Long Island winner on May 15. Virginia lost to Duke, the eventual NCAA champion, in last year’s second round.
“We feel very fortunate to be able to host,” said coach Mark Guilbeau. “We have a lot of people who support our program from the community, and of course UVa.
“We’re going to work really hard to do a great job of representing the University.”
Given what’s going on with the school’s lacrosse teams, Guilbeau says the last couple of days have been tough for his team. “It’s a challenging environment,” he said. “It certainly puts things in perspective.”
Several players on both the men’s and women’s teams were friends with women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love, who died Monday morning. Men’s lacrosse player George Huguely has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Love’s death.
“I think it’s tough for the whole athletic world,” said Virginia No. 1 singles player Michael Shabaz. “The whole situation is definitely very tough and pretty rare at a university like this.
“But I think, overall, we’re doing OK. We’re coping with it pretty good.”
“It’s still pretty much of a shock,” he said. “It’s one of those things that just doesn’t happen at all.
“It’s something that I think as time goes on, personally I think I can heal. The whole athletic department really supports us. We have sources who we can reach out to for help. Overall, I think it’s been handled pretty well.”
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