No. 1 Virginia Wins 4-3 at No. 3 Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis team (3-0) picked up a 4-3 victory against No. 3 Texas (2-1) on Thursday (Jan. 18) on the outdoor courts of the Texas Tennis Center in Austin, Texas, in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Semifinal.
Senior Alexander Kiefer won the clinching point for the Cavaliers.
In doubles, Texas won on the top court, but Virginia won at two to even the point. Court three was tied 5-5 before freshman Dylan Dietrich and Kiefer picked up a break to go ahead 6-5. They held serve to win 7-5 and secured the point for the Cavaliers.
The Longhorns tied the match with a quick win on singles court four.
Senior Chris Rodesch put the Cavaliers back in the lead by taking down the nation’s top-ranked singles player, Eliot Spizzirri, 6-3, 6-3. Micah Braswell, who is ranked No. 2 in the ITA singles rankings, picked up a win on court two to retie the match.
Sophomore Måns Dahlberg put the Cavaliers back in the lead with a 6-3, 6-3 win against No. 28 Jonah Braswell on court six. Dietrich was edged in a second-set tiebreaker 8-6 by Gilles-Arnaud Bailly on court three, which knotted the match 3-3.
Kiefer faced Siem Woldeab on court five. The two deadlocked 6-6 in the first set, with Kiefer taking the tiebreaker 7-5. Woldeab took the second set 6-2, but Kiefer won the decider 6-2 to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.
FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO
“Congrats to Texas for a really hard fought match. This match could have gone either way but our guys just hung tough and found a way to win a few more points. The goal is always to fight until the end like the close, united team that we are. That’s what our Wahoos did tonight. We will enjoy this one tonight and get back to work tomorrow in Cville.”
MATCH NOTES
- The Cavaliers have won their last 25 dual matches
- Virginia has not lost an outdoor match since falling in the 2021 NCAA Round of 16 against USC on May 17 of that year
- The Cavaliers topped the Longhorns 4-1 last year in the NCAA Semifinals
- Alex Kiefer also clinched the win for the Cavaliers in the NCAA Semifinals, winning a tiebreaker to decide the third set in a match against Cleve Harper at No. 5
- Texas was the No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Championship field. Virginia was the No. 5 seed
- Chris Rodesch’s win against Eliot Spizzirri was his first victory against a player ranked No. 1. Previously, his highest-ranked victory was against 2 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc of Florida State last year
- Rodesch and Spizzirri faced one another in the NCAA Semifinal but their match was abandoned in the third set
- Spizzirri was the 2023 ITA National Player of the Year
- Måns Dahlberg’s win against No. 28 Jonah Braswell is the highest-ranked win of his career. This was his first time facing a player ranked in the top 100 of the ITA singles rankings
- Virginia is 12-2 all-time against the Longhorns and has won the last eight meetings
ON THE HORIZON
- The Cavaliers play another top-five opponent on Sunday, Jan. 21, when they host No. 5 South Carolina at 1 p.m. at the Boar’s Head Sports Club
#1 Virginia 4, #3 Texas 3
Singles competition
- #22 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-3, 6-3
- #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #26 J vd Schulenburg (VA) 6-4, 6-3
- Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Dylan Dietrich (VA) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
- #49 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Edoardo Graziani (VA) 6-1, 6-1
- Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. #101 Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-2
- Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. #28 Jonah Braswell (UT) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
- #3 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. James Hopper/Edoardo Graziani (VA) 6-0
- Chris Rodesch/J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4
- Dylan Dietrich/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly/Micah Braswell (UT) 7-5
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (4,1,2,6,3,5)