No. 6 Virginia knocks off No. 1 North Carolina, 6-1

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 6 Virginia men’s tennis team (15-2, 9-0 ACC) handed previously undefeated No. 1 North Carolina (13-1, 5-1 ACC) its first loss of the season on Sunday when UVA picked up a 6-1 win against the Tar Heels on the indoor courts of the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

Virginia won the doubles point and led 5-0 before the Tar Heels picked up a point. Freshman Chris Rodesch (Angelsberg, Luxembourg) clinched the UVA victory with his win on singles court three.

In doubles, UNC held the early edge after winning on court two, but freshmen Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (Zurich, Switzerland) and Iñaki Montes (Pamplona, Spain) evened it up with a 6-4 win on court three. Court one came down to a tiebreaker with grad student Carl Söderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) and junior William Woodall (Washington, D.C.) pulling out a 7-2 victory over the fifth-ranked doubles team of William Blumberg and Brian Cernoch.

The Cavaliers went up 2-0 minutes into singles play when Rinky Hijikata sustained an injury and had to retire from his match against von der Schulenburg on court two. Junior Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, N.Y.) made it a 3-0 advantage with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Simon Soendergaard on court five.

It was a race to the clinch between two freshmen: Rodesch and Montes. Rodesch completed his 6-2, 6-3 victory on court three against Benjamin Sigouin ahead of Montes’ 6-2, 6-4 victory against Brian Cernoch on court four.

With Virginia leading 5-0, UNC collected its lone point with Mac Kiger edging Woodall 10-7 in a third-set super tiebreaker.

At the same time court six was finishing its super tiebreaker, Söderlund and Blumberg were playing a tiebreaker to decide the second set, with Söderlund taking it 7-3 to win that match 6-3, 7-6 and close out Virginia’s 6-1 victory.

#6 Virginia 6, #1 North Carolina 1

Singles competition

1. #6 Carl Soderlund (VA) def. #53 William Blumberg (NC) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
2. #21 J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. #24 Rinky Hijikata (NC) 1-0, retired
3. Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #58 Benjamin Sigouin (NC) 6-2, 6-3
4. #98 Inaki Montes (VA) def. #41 Brian Cernoch (NC) 6-2, 6-4
5. Ryan Goetz (VA) def. #74 Simon Soendergaard (NC) 6-2, 6-3
6. Mac Kiger (NC) def. William Woodall (VA) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (7)

Doubles competition

1. #10 Carl Soderlund/William Woodall (VA) def. #5 William Blumberg/Brian Cernoch (NC) 7-6 (2)
2. #75 Mac Kiger/Simon Soendergaard (NC) def. Ryan Goetz/Chris Rodesch (VA) 6-3
3. J vd Schulenburg/Inaki Montes (VA) def. Rinky Hijikata/Benjamin Sigouin (NC) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,5,3,4,6,1)
T-2:25 A-47