No. 1 Virginia Opens the Season with Saturday Doubleheader

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team opens dual match season by hosting Liberty and James Madison on Saturday, Jan. 13 at the indoor courts of the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.

The Cavaliers will take on the Flames at 12 p.m. and the Dukes at 5 p.m.

MATCH INFORMATION

• Live streaming and live scoring will be available for the matches
• Admission is free
• Overflow parking will be available at Birdwood Golf Course

NOTING THE CAVALIERS

• The 2022 and 2023 NCAA Champions open the spring season ranked No. 1 in the ITA team rankings. UVA has been ranked No. 1 since the end of the 2023 season
• The Cavaliers bring a 22-match win streak into the season. Their last loss was on the final day of the 2023 ITA National Team Indoor Championships in a back draw match against Ohio State (2/19/23)
• The Cavaliers return all but two letter winners from last year’s team, losing Ryan Goetz (4 singles, 3 doubles) and William Woodall (1 doubles)
• The Cavaliers will be led by their four seniors: Chris Rodesch, Iñaki Montes, Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and Alexander Kiefer
• Rodesch is a two-time All-American in singles and was a singles semifinalist last year in the NCAA individual championships. He was the MVP of both the NCAA and ACC Championships and was named the ACC Men’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Rodesch was ranked No. 2 in this season’s ITA Preseason Singles Rankings, the highest ranking of his career. Due to limited collegiate play in the fall, he comes into the spring ranked No. 22
• Montes was a doubles All-American last year after earning All-America status in singles in 2022. He was the 2022-23 UVA Male Athlete of the Year and a 2023 CSC Academic All-American. He closed out the fall season by advancing to the semifinals in doubles at the ITA All-American while partnering with James Hopper. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 4 in the 2022-23 preseason ITA rankings. He comes into the spring ranked No. 38 in singles
• von der Schulenburg has earned at-large bids to three straight NCAA Singles championships and was ranked No. 13 in the preseason ITA rankings. He went 11-6 in singles in the fall, advancing to the consolation final of the ITA All-American. Last season, he tied for the team lead with 31 singles victories and a team-best 25 dual match singles wins, going 31-7 and 25-5, respectively. He comes into the spring ranked No. 26 in singles
• Kiefer won the clinching point in the NCAA Semifinals against No. 1 Texas, winning a third-set tiebreaker 7-5 against Cleeve Harper to get the Cavaliers to the final. He was a team captain last year and was named the squad’s “Teammate of the Year”. He went 10-0 in singles in ACC play and closed the season on a seven-match win streak in completed matches, including going 4-0 at No. 5 singles in the NCAA Championship
• Måns Dahlberg is the fifth member of the starting lineup returning for the Cavaliers. The sophomore opened his collegiate career with a 16-5 record in singles last year, including going 4-0 at No. 6 in the NCAA Championship
• Virginia adds two graduate transfers to its already veteran squad: Edoardo Graziani and James Hopper
• Graziani played three years at Penn at No. 1 singles and doubles, being named the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year in his junior season
• Hopper was a highly decorated player at the NCAA III level, leading Case Western Reserve to an NCAA team title last season. Individually, he won back-to-back NCAA doubles titles (2022-23), was a four-time All-American in both singles and doubles and was named the ITA NCAA III National Senior of the Year last year. He went 82-19 in singles and 128-13 in doubles in his career
• In addition to the transfers, the Cavaliers also have added depth with a pair of true freshmen: Dylan Dietrich and Stefan Regalia
• Dietrich was ranked No. 2 in the preseason ITA National Newcomer rankings. He was ranked as high as No. 41 in the ITF World Junior Rankings
• Regalia, a Virginia native from Arlington, was a five-star recruit ranked No. 2 in the state of Virginia and No. 11 in the Mid-Atlantic region. He picked up nine singles victories in the fall

 ABOUT THE OPPONENTS

• Liberty went 17-10 last season and claimed the title in the first-ever Universal Tennis NIT Championship
• This is Liberty’s first year playing in Conference USA. The team won back-to-back Atlantic Sun championships in 2021 and 2022
• Virginia is 12-0 all-time against Liberty
• James Madison posted a 12-10 record last season
• Virginia leads the all-time series 15-2. The Dukes last victory against the Cavaliers was a 5-4 win on March 20, 1990

 ON THE HORIZON

• Virginia had two top-five showdowns next week
• The Cavaliers travel to play at No. 3 Texas on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT) in a rematch of last year’s NCAA semifinal
• On Sunday, Jan. 21, the Cavaliers host No. 5 South Carolina at 1 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Sports Club