Cavalier Corner

June 2016

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BY WHITELAW REID S OMEWHERE AT THE BOTTOM of the pile was Henrik Wier- sholm. The second-year had just beaten Oklahoma's Andre Biro in a second-set tiebreaker to clinch a 4-1 team win that gave Virginia its second straight NCAA championship in men's tennis. As Wiersholm was swarmed by his ju- bilant teammates at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla., Virginia head coach Brian Boland kicked back and took everything in. "It's so enjoyable for me to watch them celebrate because I know how hard they work," Boland said. "For me, that's what it is all about — to be able to stand there and watch them during the pile on. "The excitement that they have is what it's all about. I just enjoy so much watching them work hard, doing it the right way and having that celebration." With the victory, Virginia finished the season with a 30-4 record and became just the fourth school in the modern era to win consecutive national championships, joining Stanford, Georgia and USC. There's not much debate about it: UVA, which has won three of the last four NCAA crowns, is the preeminent college tennis pro- gram in the country. Fourth-year Ryan Shane said the team set a goal of winning back-to-back titles almost immediately after capturing last year's cham- pionship. "We got back to work right away," the team co-captain said. "The celebration was done, and the work started right away. It takes a full year of work to win a champion- ship like this, and you give yourself the best chance to win it with your preparation. "That's what we did — we got right back to work. Every guy was playing tournaments and working hard. Even the guys who had [summer] internships were working." The Wahoos' success didn't come easy. With the new no-ad rule (the first player to reach four points wins the game, eliminating the requirement that a player must win by two points) and doubles scoring (when the team doubles point is won, the remaining NO. 1 — AGAIN Men's Tennis Repeats As National Champions, Capturing Its Third Title In Four Years

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