Virginia Advances to the NCAA Round of 16

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  The Virginia men’s tennis team (26-4) logged a 4-0 victory against Ole Miss (18-10) in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Tennis Team Championship on Sunday (May 7) at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.

The Cavaliers have now advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 in 17 of the last 18 championships.

Jeffrey von der Schulenburg won the clinching point for the Cavaliers.

Virginia won a tight doubles point to start the match. Chris Rodesch and von der Schulenburg won 7-5 on court two followed by a 6-4 victory from Iñaki Montes and William Woodall on court one to clinch the point. Third doubles was tied 5-5 when play was abandoned.

Ryan Goetz raced through a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Lukas Engelhardt on singles court four to give UVA a 2-0 lead before half of the first sets were even over.

The Cavaliers got through all of the first sets in singles right before the rains came. After a twenty-minute delay, play resumed indoors.

Alex Kiefer had a tight first set against Noah Schlagenhauf on court five, picking up a late break to win it 7-5 and then went 6-1 in the second set to give UVA a 3-0 advantage.

After trailing 4-0 in his first set against Simon Junk on court three, von der Schulenburg came back to tie things up. The set was decided in a tiebreaker with von der Schulenburg winning 8-6. He took the second set 6-1 to clinch the victory.

“I thought Ole Miss played really well across the board and our guys just hung in there and played really solid,” said head coach Andres Pedroso. “ I don’t think we played our best in doubles, but I’m happy with the way they kept their composure and just fought till the end. So we pulled that out and then got a good start to singles. But Ole Miss was tough. All these SEC schools in the tournament, they fight until the end, and they’re scrappy, and so we knew what we were gonna get from them today.”

The Cavaliers will take an 18-match win streak into next weekend’s Round of 16. Virginia will host Duke at the Virginia Tennis Facility in the Super Regional on Saturday, May 13 at 1 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to the championship rounds of the tournament being held May 18-20 at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla

Virginia is the No. 5 seed in the championship. Ole Miss is ranked No. 26 in the latest ITA team rankings. Duke is the 12 seed.

“We always love playing at home,” Pedroso said. “We’ve been getting great crowds which is awesome. So thank you to the Charlottesville community to the Boar’s Head and all our fans. It’s such an honor to play in front of them so we always feel good playing at home.”

Tickets for the NCAA Super Regional match are $5 for general admission and $3 for students with a valid ID per day (ages 2 and up are required to have a ticket). Tickets will be available for purchase online, over the phone, or at the Bryant Hall ticket office and can be picked up at the courts.

#5 Virginia 4, #26 Ole Miss 0
Singles competition

1. #9 Chris Rodesch (VA) vs. #64 Nikola Slavic (OM) 7-6 (5), 4-3, unfinished
2. #26 Inaki Montes (VA) vs. J. Hallquist Lithen (OM) 6-0, 3-6, unfinished
3. #49 J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Simon Junk (OM) 7-6 (6), 6-1
4. #87 Ryan Goetz (VA) def. Lukas Engelhardt (OM) 6-2, 6-0
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Noah Schlagenhauf (OM) 7-5, 6-1
6. Mans Dahlberg (VA) vs. Isac Stromberg (OM) 6-7 (6), 2-4, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. #58 Inaki Montes/William Woodall (VA) def. J. Hallquist Lithen/Simon Junk (OM) 6-4
2. Chris Rodesch/J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Lukas Engelhardt/Isac Stromberg (OM) 7-5
3. Ryan Goetz/Alexander Kiefer (VA) vs. Noah Schlagenhauf/Nikola Slavic (OM) 5-5, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (4,5,3)
NCAA Second Round – Charlottesville Regional
20 rain delay as the match moved indoors during the second set of singles
T-2:44 A-327