Virginia Downs Florida State 4-1 in ACC Semifinals

DURHAM, N.C. –  The Virginia men’s tennis team (23-4, 12-0 ACC) picked up a 4-1 victory in the semifinals of the ACC Men’s Tennis Championship against Florida State (19-8, 8-4 ACC) on Saturday (April 22) at Duke’s Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham, N.C.

The match was scheduled to be played outdoors at Cary Tennis Park but was moved to an indoor venue because of thunderstorms.

Grad student Ryan Goetz won the clinching match for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers opened the match with a 6-3 win by Goetz and Alex Kiefer on doubles court three. Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg clinched the point with a 6-2 win on court two.

In singles, Rodesch sailed through a 6-1, 6-4 win against Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc, finishing his match before court five had completed its first set. Rodesch is ranked No. 10 in the ITA singles rankings and Cornut-Chauvinc is six. This was Rodesch’s fourth top 10 win of the season and extended his singles win streak to 10 matches.

Von der Schulenburg won 6-3, 6-2 on court three to put UVA ahead 3-0. Jamie Comel won on court six to give Florida State its point. Goetz and Montes were in the race to clinch on adjacent courts with Goetz finishing out his 6-4, 6-3 victory against Joshua Dous-Karpenschif to finish the match. Montes was leading 5-2 in his second set when play was abandoned.

Virginia will face Duke (20-5, 11-1 ACC) in the final on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cary Tennis Park in a meeting of the tournament’s top two seeds. Virginia is ranked No. 8 in the ITA team rankings while the Blue Devils are No. 12. The Cavaliers are vying for their third straight ACC title and 15^th overall in the program’s history.

Florida State was the five seed in the tournament and is No. 18 in the ITA team rankings.

Sunday’s match will stream online on ACCNX through the ESPN app. It is available through participating TV providers that carry ACC Network

Virginia 4, Florida State 1
Singles competition

1. #8 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #6 A. Cornut-Chauvinc (FSU) 6-1, 6-4
2. #21 Inaki Montes (VA) vs. Loris Pourroy (FSU) 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
3. #43 J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. #109 Youcef Rihane (FSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. #83 Ryan Goetz (VA) def. J. Dous-Karpenschif (FSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) vs. Andreja Petrovic (FSU) 6-7 (5-7), 1-1, unfinished
6. Jamie Connel (FSU) def. Mans Dahlberg (VA) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. William Woodall/Inaki Montes (VA) vs. A. Cornut-Chauvinc/J. Dous-Karpenschif (FSU) 4-4, unfinished
2. Chris Rodesch/J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Alex Bulte/Loris Pourroy (FSU) 6-2
3. Ryan Goetz/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Maks Silagy/Barnaby Smith (FSU) 6-3

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,3,6,4)