UVA to compete for pair of ACC tennis titles on Sunday in Cary

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Posted on Sunday, Apr. 21, 2024, 12:29 am

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photos: UVA Athletics

No. 2 Virginia logged a 4-1 victory against Duke in the semifinals of the ACC Men’s Tennis Championship on Saturday, while the No. 4 women’s tennis team won 4-0 against Florida State in the semifinals at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C.

The top-seeded Cavalier men’s team (22-4) will take on 3-seed Florida State (20-7) on Sunday at 10 a.m. in the championship match. The second-seeded women’s team (22-3) will then face top-seeded North Carolina (21-3) in the final at 2 p.m. Both matches will stream online on ACCNX.

MEN’S SEMIFINALS: VIRGINIA 4, DUKE 1

Duke (18-9) won the doubles point, but the Cavaliers took four singles matches to advance to Sunday’s final. For the second straight day, senior Chris Rodesch won the clinching point.

Virginia opened the semifinals with a 6-3 win on doubles court two, but Duke took courts one and three, 6-3 and 6-4, to take the doubles point.

Freshman Dylan Dietrich evened the score with a 6-2, 6-3 win on singles court four. Senior Alexander Kiefer quicky followed with a 6-2, 6-1 victory on five to put UVA up 2-1.

Senior Iñaki Montes won his first set 6-1 against Pedro Rodenas on court two. The two battled in a close second set with Montes serving for the match up 5-4. The two battled to deuce with Montes taking the point to put UVA up 3-1.

Rodesch had dropped his first set 6-4 against No. 22 Garrett Johns but took the second 6-2 to force a third set. Rodesch took an early 3-0 lead in the third set. Both players held serve through the remainder with Rodesch serving for a 6-3 win to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO

“They fought till the end like they’ve done for a really, really long time. That’s what I expect from these guys. That’s why I’m so blessed to be their coach because I just know what I’m gonna get from these guys every time they step on the court. These guys just competed. They competed and they never gave up. Duke played great. A lot of credit to them. They pushed us and we just stayed the course.”

“We have a lot of experience on this team. These guys have been through everything you can go through in a in a college dual match, so nothing really surprises them. We talk a lot about just hanging in there, whether it’s on the court or off the court, and how important composure is. These guys have bought in and they’ve gotten better and better with each year. And our young guys are also doing a great job.”

MATCH NOTES

  • The start of the match was delayed an hour for court drying after overnight rain
  • Virginia is No. 2 in the ITA rankings. Duke is No. 12. Florida State is No. 17
  • Duke was the No. 4 seed in the tournament
  • Virginia is looking for its fourth straight ACC title and its 16th overall
  • Virginia won the title last season, besting Duke 4-1
  • This was the third meeting of the year between the Blue Devils and Cavaliers. UVA won 4-1 at ITA Indoors and 6-1 during the regular season
  • Virginia won the regular season meeting against Florida State 4-1 in Tallahassee
  • UVA has won 62 consecutive matches against ACC opponents including post-season, ITA Kickoff Weekend, ITA Indoors and non-conference meetings. Their last loss against an ACC foe was a 4-2 loss against North Carolina on Feb. 13, 2021 at ITA Indoors
  • Virginia has not lost an outdoor match since falling in the Round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Championship

Singles
1. #4 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #22 Garrett Johns (DU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. #36 Iñaki Montes (VA) def. #43 Pedro Rodenas (DU) 6-1, 6-4
3. #51 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) vs. Andrew Zhang (DU) 7-5, 2-6, 3-2, unfinished
4. #45 Dylan Dietrich (VA) def. Connor Krug (DU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Alexander Visser (DU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Måns Dahlberg (VA) vs. Faris Khan (DU) 5-7, 5-5, unfinished

Doubles
1. #1 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) def. #12 Iñaki Montes/James Hopper (VA) 6-3
2. #62 Chris Rodesch/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (VA) def. #70 Andrew Zhang/Michael Heller (DU) 6-3
3. Faris Khan/Teddy Truwit (DU) def. Alexander Kiefer/Dylan Dietrich (VA) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,5,2,1)


WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS: VIRGINIA 4, FLORIDA STATE 0

Virginia won the doubles point and singles matches on courts two, three and six to take the match. Grad student Natasha Subhash clinched the victory for the Cavaliers.

Senior Sara Ziodato and sophomore Meggie Navarro opened the match with a 6-3 win on the third doubles court. Florida State (16-8) took the top court 7-5. Court two went to a tiebreaker to decide the point with senior Hibah Shaikh and Subhash winning it 7-2 to give UVA the 1-0 lead.

The Cavaliers took four of six first sets in singles. Sophomore Mélodie Collard closed out a 6-1, 6-1 victory on court six to give UVA a 2-0 lead minutes after courts four and five had finished their first sets. Shaikh won a break point at deuce on court two to finish a 6-3, 6-0 win to put UVA up 3-0.

Subhash defeated Anna Arkadianou 6-2, 6-2 on court three to secure the victory. Virginia is vying for its third ACC title and first under head coach Sara O’Leary.

FROM HEAD COACH SARA O’LEARY

“I’m just really proud of the composure that they showed especially in doubles. Court two was down three-zero, with a point to go down four-zero and just stayed in there, stayed committed to what the plan was and stayed so tough. They had two match points at six-five and didn’t win those points, so for them to come out like they did in that tiebreaker and just stayed so focused on the task at hand, I’m just really proud of them. And then in singles, I felt like we had girls that started really strong right from the beginning and they didn’t let their foot off the gas. That’s what it took today. I’m just really proud of them.”

MATCH NOTES

  • Virginia is ranked No. 4 in the latest ITA Rankings. Florida State is 23. North Carolina is No. 5
  • Virginia also won its quarterfinal match on Friday against Notre Dame by a 4-0 score
  • Virginia is looking for its third ACC title. UVA won back-to-back titles in 2014-15
  • Virginia has made three trips to the finals since 1990 (the present format for the championship) winning the title in 2014 and 2015. UVA was the runner-up in 2022, falling to Duke in the final after topping UNC 4-2 in the semifinals
  • This is the third meeting of the year between Virginia and North Carolina. UVA won 4-0 in a back draw match at ITA Indoors on Feb. 11. North Carolina won 4-1 in the regular season meeting on April 5 in Chapel Hill

Singles
1. #61 Annabelle Xu (VA) vs. #28 Vic Allen (FSU) 1-6, 4-3, unfinished
2. #23 Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. #33 Ellie Schoppe (FSU) 6-3, 6-0
3. Natasha Subhash (VA) def. Anna Arkadianou (FSU) 6-2, 6-2
4. #86 Sara Ziodato (VA) vs. Millie Bissett (FSU) 7-6 (7-4), 0-2, unfinished
5. #99 Elaine Chervinsky (VA) vs. Kristyna Lavickova (FSU) 6-7 (6-8), 0-1, unfinished
6. Melodie Collard (VA) def. Laura Putz (FSU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
1. #27 Vic Allen/Millie Bissett (FSU) def. #8 Melodie Collard/Elaine Chervinsky (VA) 7-5
2. #38 Natasha Subhash/Hibah Shaikh (VA) def. Anna Arkadianou/Ellie Schoppe (FSU) 7-6 (7-2)
3. Sara Ziodato/Meggie Navarro (VA) def. Laura Putz/Cade Cricchio (FSU) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,2,3)