Men’s Tennis: No. 5 Hoos punch ticket to Round of 16 with wins over Navy, Ole Miss

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia men’s tennis team logged a 4-0 victory against Ole Miss in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championship on Sunday at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.

The Cavaliers (26-4) have now advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 in 17 of the last 18 championships.

Jeffrey von der Schulenburg won the clinching point for the Cavaliers.

Virginia won a tight doubles point to start the match. Chris Rodesch and von der Schulenburg won 7-5 on court two followed by a 6-4 victory from Iñaki Montes and William Woodall on court one to clinch the point. Third doubles was tied 5-5 when play was abandoned.

Ryan Goetz raced through a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Lukas Engelhardt on singles court four to give UVA a 2-0 lead before half of the first sets were even over.

The Cavaliers got through all of the first sets in singles right before the rains came. After a twenty-minute delay, play resumed indoors.

Alex Kiefer had a tight first set against Noah Schlagenhauf on court five, picking up a late break to win it 7-5 and then went 6-1 in the second set to give UVA a 3-0 advantage over the Rebels (18-10).

After trailing 4-0 in his first set against Simon Junk on court three, von der Schulenburg came back to tie things up. The set was decided in a tiebreaker with von der Schulenburg winning 8-6. He took the second set 6-1 to clinch the victory.

“I thought Ole Miss played really well across the board and our guys just hung in there and played really solid,” said head coach Andres Pedroso. “ I don’t think we played our best in doubles, but I’m happy with the way they kept their composure and just fought till the end. So we pulled that out and then got a good start to singles. But Ole Miss was tough. All these SEC schools in the tournament, they fight until the end, and they’re scrappy, and so we knew what we were gonna get from them today.”

In Saturday’s 4-0 opening-round win against Navy, Goetz and Kiefer opened the match with a 6-2 win on doubles court three. Rodesch and von der Schulenburg clinched the point with a 7-5 win on court two. The Cavaliers swept all six first sets in singles.

Von der Schulenburg won 6-2, 6-2 on court three to put UVA ahead 2-0. Måns Dahlberg followed with a 6-0, 6-3 win on six. Kiefer clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against JJ Etterbeek on court five. Rodesch was up 5-1 in the second set on court one and Montes led 5-0 on court two when play was abandoned against the Midshipmen (23-20).

The Cavaliers will take an 18-match win streak into next weekend’s Round of 16. Virginia will host Duke at the Virginia Tennis Facility in the Super Regional on Saturday at 1 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to the championship rounds of the tournament being held May 18-20 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla.

Virginia is the No. 5 seed in the championship. Ole Miss is ranked No. 26 in the latest ITA team rankings. Duke is the No. 12 seed.

“We always love playing at home,” Pedroso said. “We’ve been getting great crowds which is awesome. So thank you to the Charlottesville community to the board said all our fans, it’s such an honor to play in front of them so we always feel good playing at home.”

Tickets for the NCAA Super Regional match are $5 for general admission and $3 for students with a valid ID per day (ages 2 and up are required to have a ticket). Tickets will be available for purchase online, over the phone, or at the Bryant Hall ticket office and can be picked up at the courts.

Jeffrey von der Schulenburg speaks to the media after today’s 4-0 win against Ole Miss #NCAAMTEN #GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/a8mOUY7xmB

— Virginia Men’s Tennis (@UVAMensTennis) May 7, 2023

Men’s NCAA Team Bracket

NO. 5 VIRGINIA 4, OLE MISS 0 (SUNDAY)

Singles
1. #9 Chris Rodesch (VA) vs. #64 Nikola Slavic (OM) 7-6 (5), 4-3, unfinished
2. #26 Iñaki Montes (VA) vs. J. Hallquist Lithen (OM) 6-0, 3-6, unfinished
3. #49 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Simon Junk (OM) 7-6 (6), 6-1
4. #87 Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-2, 6-0
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 7-5, 6-1
6. Måns Dahlberg (VA) vs. Isac Stromberg (OM) 6-7 (6), 2-4, unfinished

Doubles
1. #58 Iñaki Montes/William Woodall (VA) def. J. Hallquist Lithen/Simon Junk (OM) 6-4
2. Chris Rodesch/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Lukas Engelhardt/Isac Stromberg (OM) 7-5
3. Ryan Goetz/Alexander Kiefer (VA) vs. Noah Schlagenhauf/Nikola Slavic (OM) 5-5, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,5,3)

NO. 5 VIRGINIA 4, NAVY 0 (SATURDAY)

Singles
1. #9 Chris Rodesch (VA) vs. Sasha Panyan (NAVY) 6-4, 5-1, unfinished
2. #26 Iñaki Montes (VA) vs. Gavin Segraves (NAVY) 6-1, 5-0, unfinished
3. #49 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Luke Garner (NAVY) 6-2, 6-2
4. #87 Ryan Goetz (VA) vs. Herrick Legaspi (NAVY) 6-2, 4-2, unfinished
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. J.J. Etterbeek (NAVY) 6-1, 6-1
6. Måns Dahlberg (VA) def. Aniketh Ayinala (NAVY) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles
1. #56 Iñaki Montes/William Woodall (VA) vs. Luke Garner/Sasha Panyan (NAVY) 5-5, unfinished
2. Chris Rodesch/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Finn Garner/Nathan Nguyen (NAVY) 7-5
3. Ryan Goetz/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Christian Pumpelly/Gavin Segraves (NAVY) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (3,6,5)