Montes repeats as singles runner-up at ITA Atlantic Regional

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia men’s tennis junior Iñaki Montes was the runner-up at the ITA Atlantic Regional Men’s Tennis Singles Championship, contested Wednesday through Monday, Oct. 19-24, in Charlottesville.

Top-seeded Montes was the singles finalist for the second-straight year. He topped his teammate, junior Jeffrey von der Schulenburg in a three-set marathon, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, in Monday’s semifinal before facing Virginia Tech’s Ryan Fishback later in the day in the final. Montes retired with an injury down 1-0 in the final match, with Fishback taking the regional title.

The Cavaliers had three singles players advance to Monday’s semifinals. Junior Chris Rodesch, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, was edged by Fishback 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Monday’s other semifinal.

Junior Alex Kiefer advanced to the Round of 16 of the championship bracket before falling to Fishback.

Kiefer and von der Schulenburg advanced to the semifinals of the doubles bracket with an 8-2 win against VCU’s Charles and Maxence Bertimon, a tandem ranked No. 4 in the ITA National Rankings and who had made the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles tournament last season.

VCU’s Rayane Stable and Matisse Bobichon won the doubles tournament, defeating Fishback and Alberto Orso in the final.

Rodesch and Bar Botzer made the quarterfinals in doubles. Grad student Ryan Goetz and freshmen Ty Switzer and Douglas Yaffa also competed in the tournament.

The tournament began with a bronze draw with eight singles players advancing to compete in the silver draw. Eight players advanced from silver into the 32-player gold championship draw. In doubles, four teams advanced from bronze and four from silver to eventually build a 32-team doubles gold draw.

There were 150 singles players and 69 doubles teams that competed in the tournament including players from Bucknell, Delaware, Duquesne, Georgetown, George Mason, Howard, James Madison, Liberty, Mount Saint Mary’s, Navy, Old Dominion, Penn State, Radford, Richmond, Saint Joseph’s, Temple, VCU, Villanova, Virginia Tech and William & Mary.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Associations’ regional championships are the qualifying tournaments for the 2022 ITA National Fall Championships, being held Nov. 2-6 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif.

GOLD SINGLES
32 Iñaki Montes (VA) def. Codia van Schalkwyk (ODU) 6-4, 6-3
32 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Miko Eala (PSU) 6-3, 6-4
32 Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Romain Gales (VCU) 6-2, 6-3
32 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. Joseph Brailovsky (WM) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
32 Matisse Bobichon (VCU) def. Ryan Goetz (VA) 2-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5
16 Iñaki Montes (VA) def. Alvaro Ariza (VT) 6-1, 6-0
16 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Yanis Moundir (ODU) 6-3, 6-4
16 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. Younes Lalami (ODU) 6-2, 6-4
16 Ryan Fishback (VT) def. Alexander Kiefer (VA) 6-3, 6-4
QF Chris Rodesch (VA) def. Marin Delmas (Temple) 6-2, 7-5
QF Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Charles Bertimon (VCU) 0-6, 6-1, 6-3
QF Iñaki Montes (VA) def. Josh Wilson (LIB) 6-0, 6-2
SF Ryan Fishback (VT) def. Chris Rodesch (VA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
SF Iñaki Montes (VA) def. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
F Ryan Fishback (VT) def. Iñaki Montes (VA) 1-0 (ret. inj)

GOLD DOUBLES
32 Kiefer/von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Balsekar/Taramonlis (RAD) 8-2
32 Duo/Davis (WM) def. Montes/Goetz (VA) 8-6
32 Raquin/Frumholz (Temple) def. Switzer/Yaffa (VA) 8-3
32 Botzer/Rodesch (VA) def. Moledina/Foster 8-4
16 Botzer/Rodesch (VA) def. Voelzke/Maumgartner (VCU) 8-1
16 Kiefer/von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Maia/Ariza (VT) 8-6
QF Lalami/Perez (ODU) def. Botzer/Rodesch (VA) 8-7 (10)
QF Kiefer/von der Schulenburg (VA) def. Bertimon/Bertimon (VCU) 8-2
SF Stable/Bobichon (VCU) def. Kiefer/von der Schulenburg (VA) 8-6

SILVER SINGLES
Ty Switzer (VA) def. Daniel Kliebhan (RICH) 7-5, 6-1
Codie Van Schalkwyck (ODU) def. Ty Switzer (VA) 6-2, 6-1

SILVER DOUBLES
Switzer/Yaffa (VA) def. Janes/Saadi 8-5
Switzer/Yaffa (VA) def. O’Sullivan/Fellows 8-6

CONSOLATION MATCHES
Switzer/Yaffa (VA) def. Koons/Sadek (JMU) 8-7 (5)
Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Julian Lozano (JMU), 6-0, 6-0