Men’s Tennis: No. 3 Virginia cruises to 7-0 win at GT; completes another perfect ACC slate

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Posted on Sunday, Apr. 14, 2024, 8:07 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo: UVA Athletics

The No. 3 Virginia men’s tennis team closed out the regular season with a 7-0 win at Georgia Tech on Saturday at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta.

The Cavaliers (20-4, 12-0 ACC) won the doubles point and took all six singles courts in straight sets in the final match of the regular season.

With the victory, the Cavaliers close out their fourth straight 12-0 run through the ACC slate. It is the 17th ACC Regular Season title in program history and the 14th time the team has gone undefeated in conference play.

Senior Iñaki Montes and grad student James Hopper opened the match with a 6-3 victory on the top doubles court. Georgia Tech (17-7, 7-5) took court two 6-3, while court three was in the middle of a tiebreaker to determine its winner. Senior Alex Kiefer and freshman Dylan Dietrich took the breaker 7-4 to clinch the point.

In singles, Dietrich sailed through a 6-1, 6-2 victory on court four against Richard Biagiotti. Minutes later, senior Jeffrey von der Schulenburg completed his 6-2, 6-3 win on three to put UVA up 3-0.

Three courts were racing for the clinch, with sophomore Måns Dahlberg taking the honors with a 7-6 (2), 6-0 win on five. Kiefer followed right behind with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on six, followed by Montes’s 6-3, 6-3 win at two.

In the premier match-up of the day, No. 7 Chris Rodesch faced off against No. 11 Andres Martin. Rodesch had to come back from down a break in both of his sets. He and Martin ultimately went to a tiebreaker to decide the first, which Rodesch won 7-2. In the second set, Rodesch broke Martin’s serve at 5-4 to close out a 6-4 win.

Virginia will be the No. 1 seed in the ACC Championship, which will take place next week at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. With the top seeding, the Cavaliers earn a double bye and will begin play in the quarterfinals on Friday, April 19 at 10 a.m. See the full bracket and seedings below.

MATCH NOTES

  • Georgia Tech is ranked No. 29 in the latest ITA team rankings
  • Virginia has won 50 consecutive ACC matches, including its four straight 12-0 seasons (2021-24) and its final two conference matches in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign
  • Virginia has not lost an outdoor match since falling in the Round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Championship
  • Alexander Kiefer extended his singles win streak to 10 straight victories
  • Chris Rodesch finishes conference play with an 11-1 record in singles this season and is 34-6 in ACC singles matches in his four-year career

VIRGINIA 7, GEORGIA TECH 0

Singles
1. #7 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #11 Andres Martin (GT) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
2. #36 Iñaki Montes (VA) def. #92 Keshav Chopra (GT) 6-3, 6-3
3. #53 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Marcus McDaniel (GT) 6-2, 6-3
4. #48 Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-1, 6-2
5. Måns Dahlberg (VA) def. Krish Arora (GT) 7-6 (7-2), 6-0
6. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Rohan Sachdev (GT) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles
1. #9 James Hopper/Iñaki Montes (VA) def. Krish Arora/Marcus McDaniel (GT) 6-3
2. Andres Martin/Richard Biagiotti (GT) def. Chris Rodesch/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) 6-3
3. Dylan Dietrich/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Keshav Chopra/Elias Shokry (GT) 7-6 (7-4)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,3,5,6,1,2)