Men’s Tennis: UVA advances past Tennessee into ITA quarterfinals, 4-3

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team opened play at the 2023 ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a 4-3 victory against No. 12 Tennessee on Friday at the XS Tennis Village in Chicago.

Tennessee won the doubles point to take an early lead, but Virginia (8-2) followed with three straight-set wins in singles to go up 3-1. The Volunteers (6-4) tied the match 3-3 before grad student Ryan Goetz clinched the victory for the Cavaliers.

Virginia will face No. 4 Michigan (11-0) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the quarterfinals.

UVA and Tennessee split decisions on doubles courts one and two before the Volunteers closed out a 6-4 win on court three to go up 1-0. Virginia roared back by winning five first sets in singles.

Chris Rodesch tied the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Blaise Bicknell on court two, quickly followed by a 6-3, 6-3 win by Jeffrey von der Schulenburg on three. Freshman Måns Dahlberg gave Virginia a 3-1 lead with a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court five. Tennessee narrowed the gap to 3-2 with a 7-5, 6-2 win on court six.

Both Iñaki Montes on court one and Goetz on court four dropped their second sets to go to deciding third sets. Both courts started their match points simultaneously with No. 18 Johannus Monday winning his point against Montes seconds ahead of Goetz closing out his 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory against Emile Hudd.

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.

Cracked Racquets will once again provide coverage of this event through a YouTube stream that will incorporate all matches taking place at XS Tennis Village over all four days of play. Broadcasts will begin with the first match Friday morning and will continue through the championship match on Monday.

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.

Marching On 🏆

Virginia takes down Tennessee 4-2 to move to the Quarterfinals of the 2023 ITA DI Men’s National Team Indoor Championships!#WeAreCollegeTennis | #ITAIndoors pic.twitter.com/qLikKn3FcS

— ITA (@ITA_Tennis) February 18, 2023

#5 VIRGINIA 4, #12 TENNESSEE 3

Singles
1. #18 Johannus Monday (UT) def. #70 Iñaki Montes (VA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. #29 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #79 Blaise Bicknell (UT) 6-4, 6-4
3. #30 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. #56 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) 6-3, 6-3
4. Ryan Goetz (VA) def. #116 Emile Hudd (UT) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
5. Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. Boris Kozlov (UT) 6-1, 6-3
6. Angel Diaz (UT) def. Douglas Yaffa (VA) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles
1. #20 Chris Rodesch/Ryan Goetz (VA) def. #7 Johannus Monday/Pat Harper (UT) 6-4
2. #34 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Mans Dahlberg/Iñaki Montes (VA) 6-3
3. Blaise Bicknell/Angel Diaz (UT) def. Alexander Kiefer/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,3,5,1,4,6)