Men’s Tennis: Virginia wins doubles point, but ultimately falls 4-1 to No. 1 Buckeyes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team suffered a 4-1 defeat against No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. Virginia won the doubles point, but Ohio State won four singles matches to earn the victory.

“Congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes,” said Virginia head coach Andres Pedroso. “They showed today why they have been one of the most consistent programs in college tennis for years. If I know one thing about our team, it’s that they will respond and today will get us one step closer to where we want to be. We are always thinking long term and we will hit our stride. Thank you to all the amazing fans that came out to support us today. The atmosphere at the Boar’s Head today was incredible. We are so grateful to battle in front of our Wahoo fans.”

Virginia (7-2) opened the match with a 6-4 victory by Chris Rodesch and Bar Botzer on the top doubles court. Iñaki Montes and Ryan Goetz won a deuce point to pick up a break and take a 6-5 lead on doubles court two, holding serve to secure the point for the Cavaliers with a 7-5 victory.

In singles, the Cavaliers and Buckeyes split first sets with UVA taking the top three courts and Ohio State courts four through six.

Ohio State (11-0) tied the match with a straight-set victory on court six and followed minutes later with a straight-set win on court four to take a 2-1 lead.

Rodesch, who had won his first set 6-3 on court two against Justin Boulais, dropped his second 6-1 to force a third set. Alex Kiefer, who had lost his first set 6-1 against Jack Anthrop on court five, won his second 6-2 to force a third set. Both dropped their third sets, with Boiulais clinching the match with his victory on court two.

Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and Alexander Bernard had traded 7-5 wins in the first and second sets of their match on court three. Von der Schulenburg was leading 2-0 in the third set when play was abandoned.

Montes and No. 9 JJ Tracy were battling on court one, with Montes taking the first set 7-5 and was up a break at 4-3 in the second when the match ended.

ON THE HORIZON

The Cavaliers head to Chicago next week to compete at the 2023 ITA National Team Indoor Championships, being held Feb. 17-20 at the XS Tennis Village.

#1 OHIO STATE 4, #5 VIRGINIA 1

Singles
1. #70 Iñaki Montes (VA) vs. #9 JJ Tracy (OSU) 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
2. Justin Boulais (OSU) def. #29 Chris Rodesch (VA) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. #30 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) vs. #41 Alexander Bernard (OSU) 7-5, 5-7, 2-0, unfinished
4. #28 James Trotter (OSU) def. Ryan Goetz (VA) 7-5, 6-3
5. Jack Anthrop (OSU) def. Alexander Kiefer (VA) 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
6. Robert Cash (OSU) def. Mans Dahlberg (VA) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles
1. #42 Chris Rodesch/Bar Botzer (VA) def. #25 James Trotter/Andrew Lutschaunig (OSU) 6-4
2. Iñaki Montes/Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Robert Cash/Justin Boulais (OSU) 7-5
3. Alexander Kiefer/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) vs. JJ Tracy/Jack Anthrop (OSU) 5-6, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,4,5,2)