Men’s Tennis: Cavaliers knocked off by Ohio State in ITA semifinals

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 6 Virginia men’s tennis team suffered a 4-0 loss against No. 1 Ohio State in the semifinals of the 2024 ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Sunday at Columbia’s Philip & Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center in New York, N.Y.

In the second meeting this month between the two teams, the Buckeyes (12-0) won the doubles point and collected singles wins on courts three, five and six to advance to Monday’s championship match.

Grad students Edoardo Graziani and James Hopper opened the match with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles, but seniors Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg were edged 6-4 on court one to even it up. On the deciding court, senior Iñaki Montes and freshman Dylan Dietrich played Jack Anthrop to 6-6, forcing a tiebreaker that the Buckeyes won 7-2 to take the point.

Ohio State won 6-2, 6-2 on court five and 6-0, 6-3 on court six to go up 3-0.

The rest of the singles courts were much tighter. Rodesch dropped his first set on the top court but won his second to go to a third set. Dietrich and von der Schulenburg both won their first sets but dropped their seconds to also go to third sets. Von der Schulenburg was up a break in the third set when play was abandoned.

Montes saved one match point down 5-3 in the second set, winning a deciding point to keep his match alive, but No. 7 JJ Tracy won the next game to clinch the victory for the Buckeyes.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO

“Congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Their consistency over the years at the top of college tennis is something to be truly admired and applauded. Their coaches do a great job, and today they were the better team.

“I hope people appreciate the toughness, grit, and frankly, the magic that Iñaki Montes de la Torre put on display this weekend at the ITA Indoors serving underhand. I also need to mention the incredible overall performance of our first year, Dylan Dietrich. All I can say is I’m proud and grateful that he chose the University of Virginia.

“This team knows how to evolve, transform and improve through the process of a college tennis season. Our fourth years are leading the charge. We left it all out there in NYC, and as long as our guys continue to do that in our training and competitions, we will continue to progress. I’m proud of our Wahoos!”

MATCH NOTES

• Virginia (8-4) is ranked No. 6 in the ITA team rankings, but is the 4-seed in the championship. Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the ITA team rankings and is the top seed in the Championship
• Virginia fell 7-0 at Ohio State on Feb. 2
• Last season, the Buckeyes won both regular season meetings, winning 4-1 in Charlottesville and 4-0 in the ITA Indoors. Virginia won 4-0 in the NCAA Championship match in May
• The ITA Division I Men’s National Team Indoor Championship is a National Championship that welcomes the top teams from across the country to battle it out on a national stage. Now in its 49th year, the ITA Division I Men’s Indoor Championship is widely considered one of the most storied events in all of college tennis
• The Cavaliers have won six ITA National Team Indoor Championships, including four straight from 2008 to 2011 and most recently in 2017 when the tournament was held in Charlottesville. Only Stanford (12) and UCLA (7) have won more team indoor titles.

OHIO STATE 4, VIRGINIA 0

Singles
1. #67 Cannon Kingsley (OSU) vs. #19 Chris Rodesch (VA) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0, unfinished
2. #25 Justin Boulais (OSU) vs. Dylan Dietrich (VA) 3-6, 6-4, 0-1, unfinished
3. #7 JJ Tracy (OSU) def. #45 Iñaki Montes (VA) 6-3, 6-4
4. #13 Jack Anthrop (OSU) vs. #56 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) 4-6, 6-3, 0-2, unfinished
5. Robert Cash (OSU) def. Alexander Kiefer (VA) 6-2, 6-2
6. #86 Alexander Bernard (OSU) def. #104 Mans Dahlberg (VA) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles
1. Andrew Lutschaunig/Justin Boulais (OSU) def. Chris Rodesch/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) 6-4
2. Edoardo Graziani/James Hopper (VA) def. Robert Cash/Alexander Bernard (OSU) 6-2
3. Jack Anthrop/Cannon Kingsley (OSU) def. Iñaki Montes/Dylan Dietrich (VA) 7-6 (2)
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,5,3)