CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  The No. 7 Virginia men’s tennis team (0-0) opens the dual season with three home matches this week. The Cavaliers host a doubleheader on Thursday, Jan. 20, taking on Liberty (0-0) at noon and Richmond (0-0) at 5 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers will also host No. 20 Harvard on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m.

MATCH INFORMATION

  • Live streaming and live scoring will be available for the matches. Links are posted on VirginiaSports.com
  • The match is open to the public. Fans will be required to wear a mask while in attendance

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

  • The Cavaliers start the year ranked No. 7 in the ITA team rankings
  • The Cavaliers return all but one of their starters from last season’s ACC regular-season and tournament championship team
  • Virginia was scheduled to open the season last Sunday, Jan. 16 against VCU, but the match was canceled because of snow
  • Sophomore Chris Rodesch had a stellar fall season. He has moved up to a career-best No. 13 ranking in singles and a No. 5 ranking in doubles
  • Rodesch went 10-2 in singles in the fall and 10-1 in doubles
  • Rodesch was the runner-up in the consolation singles bracket at the ITA All-American after playing his way into the main draw through qualifying
  • Rodesch and Ryan Goetz won the consolation doubles bracket at the ITA All-American
  • Goetz is also ranked No. 5 in doubles with Rodesch. The tandem went 8-1 in doubles in the fall, including three wins over ranked opponents. Goetz went 12-2 overall in doubles in the fall
  • Goetz also moved up to his highest career singles ranking. He comes into the spring ranked No. 27
  • Sophomore Iñaki Montes and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg are also ranked in singles at No. 52 and No. 66 respectively
  • Sophomore Alexander Kiefer also had a strong showing this fall, going 10-2 in his matches
  • In addition to the returners, UVA also added a pair of graduate transfers in Bar Botzer and Jackson Allen
  • Botzer was a 2019 ITA Singles All-American at Wake Forest and was a member of the Demon Deacons 2018 NCAA National Championship team
  • Botzer went 9-2 in singles in the fall and brings the longest active win-streak into the spring, having won his last five matches of the fall. He is ranked No. 71 in singles
  • Allen played No. 1 singles for Minnesota

NOTING LIBERTY

  • Liberty opened the spring season by hosting a tournament last weekend, but this will be their first official dual match of the season
  • Josh Wilson has a 15-5 record in singles; Goncalo Ferreira has a 13-3 record
  • Deji Thomas-Smith and Christiann Worst hold a 7-4 mark in doubles
  • Virginia is 10-0 all-time against Liberty

 NOTING RICHMOND

  • Richmond was scheduled to play at Wake Forest on Monday, but the match was canceled. This will be the Spiders first dual match of the spring
  • Seniors John Walsh and Alex Wernick both posted winning singles records last season playing in the middle of the lineup
  • UVA alum Houston Barrick ’10 has been the head coach of the Spiders since the 2017-18 season. He has led Richmond to back-to-back Atlantic 10 Championship final appearances, falling in the title match against VCU twice
  • Virginia is 44-2 all-time against the Spiders and has won the last 11 meetings. Richmond’s last win came in 1994

NOTING HARVARD

  • Harvard was ranked No. 21 in the preseason ITA team rankings and moved up to No. 20 this week
  • Harvard had reached a program-best No. 11 ranking Feb. 25, 2020, the last rankings period before COVID canceled the rest of the season. As an Ivy League school, the team did not compete last season
  • The Crimson opened the season with a 7-0 win against Boston College and will play Virginia Tech on Friday before facing the Cavaliers on Sunday
  • Harvard has four players ranked in singles, led by sophomore Henry von der Schulenburg at No. 17, senior Brian Shi at No. 57, freshman Daniel Milavsky at No. 86 and junior Harry Walker at No. 118
  • Shi and Milavsky are ranked No. 11 in doubles; von der Schulenburg and Walker are No. 49
  • Henry von der Schulenburg is the older brother of Cavalier sophomore Jeffrey von der Schulenburg
  • UVA alum Sanam Singh ’11 is the associate head coach of the Crimson. Singh was also a volunteer coach on Andres Pedroso’s staff for the 2017-18 season
  • Harvard leads the all-time series 8-6, but Virginia has won the last three meetings. The Crimson’s last win came in 1989

ON THE HORIZON

  • The Cavaliers host ITA Kickoff Weekend matches next weekend with Ball State, Georgia Tech and MTSU vying for a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships being held Feb. 18-21 in Seattle, Wash.
  • Georgia Tech and MTSU will play at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29. Virginia will face Ball State at noon. The winners will meet at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 30 with the consolation match scheduled for 10 a.m. that morning