Virginia defeats North Carolina, wins ACC Men’s Tennis championship

Posted on Sunday, Apr. 25, 2021, 5:46 pm

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Courtesy ACC Media Relations

Ryan Goetz and Iñaki Montes closed out with straight-wins on the No. 5 and No. 4 courts, lifting the top-seeded Cavaliers to a 4-3 victory over No. 3 seed North Carolina in the finals of the ACC Men’s Tennis Championship on Sunday afternoon at Rome Tennis Center.

Virginia (21-2) captured the ACC men’s title for the 13th time and for the first time under the watch of head coach Andres Pedroso. It is the first title since 2017 for the Cavaliers, who dominated ACC men’s tennis for most of the previous two decades but saw Wake Forest win three of the previous four tournaments held prior to Sunday.

Goetz defeated Logan Zapp 6-1, 6-3 on the No. 5 court, while Montes defeated Simon Soendergaard 6-2, 6-4 to rally the Cavaliers from a 3-2 deficit. Tournament MVP Carl Söderlund (No. 1) and Gianni Ross (No. 6) also registered straight-set singles wins for Virginia.

After the UNC team of Benjamin Sigouin and Josh Peck teamed up for a 7-6 (7-4) decision over for Jeffrey Von Der Schulenburg and Montes to clinch the doubles point, the Tar Heels (19-3) received singles wins from Brian Cernoch at No. 2 and Peck at No. 3 to push the Cavaliers to the limit.

UNC, which reached the finals for the second time in the last three ACC Men’s Tennis Championships, was bidding for its first title since 2002.

As ACC Champion, Virginia earns the league’s automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Championship, and North Carolina is primed to secure an at-large berth. Selections to this year’s NCAA field are scheduled to be announced Monday, May 3.