No. 7 Virginia downs No. 10 South Carolina 4-0 to advance to NCAA Quarters

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 7 Virginia men’s tennis team (25-5) advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championship with a 4-0 victory against No. 10 South Carolina (23-7) on Friday at the Charlottesville Super Regional.

The match started outdoors with the Cavaliers taking the doubles point, but moved indoors midway through singles after a passing rain shower made the courts unplayable. After a 30 minute delay, play resumed with Virginia picking up wins on the bottom three singles courts to take the match. Grad student Bar Botzer clinched the victory with a win on court six.

In doubles, senior Gianni Ross and sophomore Jeffrey von der Schulenburg opened the match with a 6-4 win on court three. The Gamecocks evened it with a 6-3 victory on court one. Senior Ryan Goetz and sophomore Iñaki Montes won a deuce point to close out a 6-4 victory on two to give UVA the 1-0 lead.

In singles, each team had won two first sets when play was moved indoors. Goetz closed out his first set 6-4 shortly after play was resumed. Sophomore Chris Rodesch took the nation’s top-ranked singles player, Daniel Rodrigues, to a tiebreaker in the first set, but Rodrigues pulled out the 7-5 win to split the first sets 3-3 between the two teams.

Both Montes and Botzer, who had dropped their first sets, won their second sets to force deciders.

Ross gave the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead by closing out a 6-4, 7-5 win against James Story on court five. Goetz followed with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Raphael Lambling on four. Botzer took his third set 6-2 against Casey Hoole to clinch the victory.

Virginia will take on either No. 2 Florida or No. 15 North Carolina on Thursday, May 19, at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO

“South Carolina is a top-10 team. They’ve got top-five wins, so we knew we were going to have our hands full. I thought the guys handled it well. There were some ups and downs. Going from outdoors to indoors is always challenging, but, our guys were total pros out there. So I’m proud of them. We competed until the end and played solid. Whatever came our way, we were ready for.”

“Over the years at UVA, we’ve always taken pride in just having a really solid four or five and six. And you know, a lot of great teams, that’s where they win most of their points if you look at college tennis over the last 10, 20, 30 years. Those guys count just as much as the guys at the top of the lineup and the doubles point. Those guys have done a great job for us all year.”

“I just want to thank everyone here in Charlottesville and the UVA community that came out to cheer us on. For this to be our last match this year here in Charlottesville and to have the crowd that we had, it’s just awesome. We love playing in front of them. They make it special for us to play in the orange and blue.”

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• This was the Cavaliers’ 20th straight win
• The Cavaliers have advanced to the quarterfinals in 15 of the last 17 championships
• Virginia has won all three of its NCAA Championship matches this year by a 4-0 score
• Chris Rodesch was leading 5-2 in the second set against No. 1 Daniel Rodrigues when play was abandoned

ON THE HORIZON

• The men’s and women’s semifinals will take place on Saturday, May 21 in Champaign with the championship matches contested on Sunday, May 22
• NCAA Singles and Doubles will take place May 23-28 in that same location

#7 Virginia 4, #10 South Carolina 0

Singles competition

1. #30 Chris Rodesch (VA) vs. #1 Daniel Rodrigues (SC) 6-7 (5), 5-2, unfinished
2. #39 Inaki Montes (VA) vs. #82 Toby Samuel (SC) 3-6, 6-4, 3-2, unfinished
3. #45 J vd Schulenburg (VA) vs. Connor Thomson (SC) 6-2, 2-6, 3-2, unfinished
4. #96 Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-4, 6-1
5. Gianni Ross (VA) def. James Story (SC) 6-4, 7-5
6. Bar Botzer (VA) def. Casey Hoole (SC) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. #18 Daniel Rodrigues/Connor Thomson (SC) def. #61 Bar Botzer/Chris Rodesch (VA) 6-3
2. Ryan Goetz/Inaki Montes (VA) def. Raphael Lambling/James Story (SC) 6-4
3. Gianni Ross/J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Casey Hoole/Toby Samuel (SC) 6-4

Match Notes

South Carolina 23-7; National ranking #10

Virginia 25-5; National ranking #7

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,4,6)

NCAA Charlottesville Super Regional – Round of 16

Match started outdoors but moved indoors midway through singles

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