Men’s Tennis: No. 1 Virginia opens season with a pair of victories Sunday

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo: UVA Athletics

The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team opened dual match season by picking up 7-0 victories against UNCW and Richmond on Sunday on the indoor courts at the Boars Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers (2-0) won five of six doubles matches on the day and took nine of the 12 singles matches in straight sets.

Jeffrey von der Schulenburg, Ryan Goetz and Alexander Kiefer each won a pair of singles matches. Freshmen Måns Dahlberg won his collegiate debut match 6-3, 6-0 against Richmond’s John Walsh on court three. Freshman Douglas Yaffa won his first collegiate dual match by taking his third set super tiebreaker 13-11 against Richmond’s Alex Wernink.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO
“First of all, I give a lot of credit to UNC Wilmington and Richmond. They both fought us really hard and were two really good tests to start the season. I thought our guys competed well across the board. Really proud of our first years Måns Dahlberg and Doug Yaffa for a quality first day, especially Doug pulling out that tight third-set tiebreaker. So really happy for him. It was a good start for Måns in singles and doubles. We’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s the beginning of the season. So we’re humble right now. Tuesday and Wednesday’s practices are huge so we’ll be ready for Liberty on Thursday.”

MATCH NOTES

  • Virginia is 46-2 all-time against the Spiders and has won the last 13 meetings. Richmond’s last win against UVA came in 1994
  • UVA alum Houston Barrick ’10 has been the head coach of the Spiders since the 2017-18 season
  • UNCW has won the CAA title in eight of the last 13 seasons and made the field of the NCAA Championship nine times in that same span

#1 VIRGINIA 7, UNCW 0
Singles
1. #37 Inaki Montes (VA) def. Beka Rasamatov (UNCW) 6-2, 6-2
2. #27 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. Reece Falck (UNCW) 6-3, 6-1
3. #45 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Harold Huens (UNCW) 6-4, 6-3
4. Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Gabe Hurtado (UNCW) 6-2, 6-0
5. #71 Bar Botzer (VA) def. Davide Innocenti (UNCW) 4-6, 6-3, 10-3
6. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Trey Mallory (UNCW) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles
1. Reece Falck/Harold Huens (UNCW) def. Bar Botzer/Chris Rodesch (VA) 6-4
2. Inaki Montes/Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Gabe Hurtado/Davide Innocenti (UNCW) 6-4
3. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Trey Mallory/Andrew Broadstreer (UNCW) 6-
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,2,1,3,6,5)

#1 VIRGINIA 7, RICHMOND 0
Singles
1. #45 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Daniel Kliebhan (RIC) 6-2, 6-0
2. Ryan Goetz (VA) def. William Karpinski (RIC) 6-3, 6-2
3. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Davis Wiley (RIC) 6-4, 6-4
4. Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. John Walsh (RIC) 6-3, 6-0
5. William Woodall (VA) def. Sebastian Miano (RIC) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Douglas Yaffa (VA) def. Alex Wernink (RIC) 6-3, 5-7, 13-11

Doubles
1. Bar Botzer/Chris Rodesch (VA) def. Daniel Kliebhan/William Karpinski (RIC) 6-2
2. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. John Walsh/Alex Wernink (RIC) 6-4
3. Mans Dahlberg/William Woodall (VA) def. Alaister Burke/Davis Wiley (RIC) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,2,4,3,6,5)

UP NEXT
The Cavaliers play a mid-week match at Liberty on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Flames’ season-opener. Virginia returns home to host No. 11 Baylor on Sunday at 1 p.m.