Virginia blanks NC State to advance to ACC final

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Top-seeded Virginia picked up a 4-0 victory against 4-seed NC State in the semifinals of the 2021 ACC Men’s Tennis Championship on Saturday at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.

Virginia (20-2) will play 3-seed North Carolina (18-2) for the ACC Championship title on Sunday (Apr. 25) at 2 pm. The match will stream on ACCNX.

Virginia shook off Friday’s close quarterfinal match against Georgia Tech to dominate the semifinal showdown against the Wolfpack. The Cavaliers took the doubles point and won three singles matches with dominant second sets to advance to Sunday’s championship match.

Freshman Iñaki Montes (Pamplona, Spain) clinched the victory with a win on singles court three.

Senior Carl Söderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) and junior William Woodall (Washington, D.C.) set the tone early, picking up a 6-1 victory on the top doubles court. Junior Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, N.Y.) and freshman Chris Rodesch (Angelsberg, Luxembourg) clinched the point with a 6-4 win on court two.

In singles, Goetz cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win against Rafa Izqueirdo Luque on court four to give UVA a 2-0 lead. Woodall followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court six.

Montes and Söderlund were in a race to clinch with both leading 5-0 in their second sets. Montes finished his, taking down Robin Catry 6-4, 6-0. Söderlund abandoned his match against No. 22 Alexis Galarneu while leading 6-4, 5-0.