Men’s Tennis: Virginia wins 4-2 at North Carolina

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The No. 18 Virginia men’s tennis team (8-5, 2-0 ACC) closed out its weekend road trip with a 4-2 win against North Carolina (6-5, 1-1 ACC) on Sunday at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club in Chapel Hill. N.C.

The Cavaliers won the doubles point and picked up singles victories on courts three, four and five. Senior Gianni Ross won the clinching match on court five.

Sophomores Iñaki Montes and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg opened the match with a 6-3 win on the third doubles court. Both courts one and two were tied 6-6 and had to go to tiebreakers. Sophomore Chris Rodesch and senior Ryan Goetz won their breaker 7-5 against the No. 4 ranked doubles team of Brian Cernoch and Mac Kiger to clinch the point.

In singles, von der Schulenburg sailed through a 6-3, 6-3 win against Kiger on court three to give UVA a 2-0 lead. Goetz added a third point with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on court four. Cernoch won in straight sets on court two against Rodesch to get the Tar Heels on the board. UNC added their second point with a straight-set victory on court six. Ross came back from down a break in his second set against Logan Zapp to win 6-4, 7-5 and clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO

“Our players battled hard today. There were lots of ups and downs in both singles and doubles and our Wahoos stayed the course. We are battled tested and it showed today. Composure is such an important piece to being great competitors and our team is learning this with every day of this season. Good things can happen if you hang in there and keep battling.”

MATCH NOTES

• North Carolina is No. 27 in this week’s ITA Singles Rankings
• Virginia and UNC faced one another last season in the ACC Championship final with UVA winning that match 4-3 to win the title
• Iñaki Montes and Benjamin Sigoiun were tied 2-2 in the third set when play was suspended

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia returns home to host Notre Dame on Friday, March 11 at 3 p.m. at the outdoor courts of the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort
• The Cavaliers close out the weekend by hosting Louisville at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 13

#18 Virginia 4, #27 North Carolina 2

Singles competition

1. Benjamin Sigouin (NC) vs. #48 Inaki Montes (VA) 3-6, 6-2, 2-2, unfinished
2. #73 Brian Cernoch (NC) def. #21 Chris Rodesch (VA) 6-3, 6-4
3. #61 J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Mac Kiger (NC) 6-3, 6-3
4. #57 Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Henry Lieberman (NC) 6-2, 6-1
5. Gianni Ross (VA) def. Logan Zapp (NC) 6-4, 7-5
6. Anuj Watane (NC) def. Jackson Allen (VA) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #17 Chris Rodesch/Ryan Goetz (VA) def. #4 Brian Cernoch/Mac Kiger (NC) 7-6 (7-5)
2. #25 Logan Zapp/Casey Kania (NC) vs. Gianni Ross/William Woodall (VA) 6-6 (3-3), unfinished
3. Inaki Montes/J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Benjamin Sigouin/Peter Murphy (NC) 6-3

Match Notes:

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

T-2:15 A-200