Virginia Opens the 2021 Season by Hosting Liberty

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  The No. 22 Virginia men’s tennis team (0-0) opens the 2021 season by hosting Liberty (0-0) indoors on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.

MATCH DETAILS

• Live streaming video and live scoring will be available through links on VirginiaSports.com
• Due to health and safety considerations, in addition to the current guidelines for sports venues set by the Commonwealth of Virginia, attendance for UVA home men’s and women’s indoor tennis competitions will be limited to the family of student-athletes and coaching staff until further notice

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• Virginia is ranked No. 22 in the preseason ITA team rankings
• This is the Cavaliers’ first match since a 7-0 sweep over William and Mary on March 11, 2020, the last athletic event played by any UVA team in the spring
• The Cavaliers had won six-straight matches when the remainder of the 2020 season was canceled
• The Atlantic Coast Conference also canceled fall competition for tennis this year The team practiced through their traditional fall season, but did not compete
• Both of the seniors on the 2020 team have returned as graduate students: Ammar Alhaqbani (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) and Carl Söderlund (Stockholm, Sweden)
• Söderlund was named to the 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-American Second Team, just the second player in men’s tennis’ program history to earn the accolade. He battled injuries last spring after being named the preseason No. 1 player in the ITA singles rankings. He begins the 2021 campaign ranked No. 29 in singles
• Söderlund and senior Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) are ranked No. 35 in the preseason doubles rankings
• Junior Ryan Goetz (Greenlawn, N.Y.) was named the 2020 Atlantic Region Player to Watch. Despite playing a shortened season, he still managed to tally 20 wins in singles for the second-straight year, finishing with a 20-7 record and a 9-3 record in dual matches
• In addition to an accomplished group of returners, head coach Andres Pedroso also added the No. 3 ranked recruiting class in the nation
• Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (Zurich, Switzerland) joined the team this month. He has been ranked as high as No. 7 in the world junior rankings. He is listed as No. 3 on the ITA’s national Newcomer Watch List. He is ranked at No. 106 in the ITA singles rankings without having played a college tennis match
• Alexander Kiefer (The Woodlands, Texas) is a Blue Chip recruit ranked as high as the No. 10 recruit in the class by TennisRecruiting.net who picked up 87 career singles victories in ITF World Tour junior matches
• Iñaki Montes de la Torre (Pamplona, Spain) was the 2019 Spanish Junior National Champion and was ranked No. 60 in the Spanish Men’s National Rankings and as high as No. 85 in the world junior rankings
• Chris Rodesch (Angelsburg, Luxembourg) is a member of the Luxembourg Davis Cup team, playing in 2019 in Group III ties against Greece, Monaco, Poland and Montenegro. He has a career-high ITF junior world singles ranking of No. 57

NOTING LIBERTY

• This is also the season-opener for in-region foe Liberty
• The Flames are picked to finish second in the ASUN
• The Flames posted an 8-6 overall mark in 2020, including signature victories at Virginia Tech and Penn State
• Liberty’s top returners include 2019 ASUN Player of the Year Nicaise Muamba and 2019 ASUN Freshman of the Year Josh Wilson. Both players were also ASUN All-Conference first-team honorees in 2019
• Virginia is 9-0 all-time against Liberty, including edging the Flames 4-3 last season

ON THE HORIZON

• The Cavaliers will head to Columbus, Ohio to compete in ITA Kickoff Weekend matches
• UVA plays No. 3 Ohio State on Friday, Jan. 22 at 11 a.m. in the opening round. Iowa and Texas Tech are also competing in Columbus, vying to be one of seven teams advancing from their Kickoff Weekend tournaments to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, being held Feb. 12-15 at the Atkins Tennis Center in Champaign, Illinois