No. 1 Virginia Sweeps Liberty, 7-0

LYNCHBURG, Va. –  The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team (3-0) picked up a 7-0 road victory at Liberty (0-1) on Thursday (Jan. 19) in Lynchburg, Va.

The Cavaliers won the doubles point and took five of six singles matches in straight sets. Bar Botzer preserved the sweep by winning an epic third-set super tiebreaker, 21-19, against Zion Heaven in the final match of the day.

The Cavaliers opened the match with wins on the top two doubles courts to pick up the point. In singles, Iñaki Montes rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 win against Christiaan Worst to open play. Chris Rodesch and Ryan Goetz followed with quick victories on courts one and four to guarantee victory. Freshman Måns Dahlberg improved to 2-0 to start his collegiate career with a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win against Thando Longwe-Smit on court six. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg won a tiebreaker 7-4 to close out a straight-set victory on court three to put UVA ahead 6-0 before Botzer closed out the match with his 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (19) victory.

The victory extends UVA’s win streak to 26 matches dating back to last season.

ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia returns home to host No. 11 Baylor on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 1 p.m.

#1 Virginia 7, Liberty 0
Singles competition

1. #27 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. Josh Wilson (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 6-4
2. #37 Inaki Montes (VA) def. Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) 6-0, 6-0
3. #45 J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Deji Thomas-Smith (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
4. Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) 6-1, 6-2
5. #71 Bar Botzer (VA) def. Zion Heaven (LIBERTYM) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (21-19)
6. Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. Thando Longwe-Smit (LIBERTYM) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Chris Rodesch/Bar Botzer (VA) def. Josh Wilson/Christiaan Worst (LIBERTYM) 6-2
2. Inaki Montes/Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Beau Pelletier/Zion Heaven (LIBERTYM) 6-3
3. Deji Thomas-Smith/Luis Felipe Miguel (LIBERTYM) vs. J vd Schulenburg/Alexander Kiefer (VA) 5-3, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,4,1,6,3,5)
T-2:33