No. 5 Virginia Wins 6-1 at North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team picked up its first conference victory on Sunday (March 2), finishing the weekend with a 6-1 victory over North Carolina at the Chewning Tennis Center.

The Cavaliers (9-3, 1-1 ACC) bounced back after losing their ACC opener at No. 15 Duke on Friday (Feb. 28), defeating the Tar Heels (7-4, 1-1 ACC) for the seventh straight time.

Playing together for the first time, freshman Jangjun Kim and junior Ty Switzer opened the match with a 6-3 win on doubles court two. Grad student James Hopper and freshman Keegan Rice followed with a 6-4 victory on the top court to clinch the doubles point for the Hoos.

In singles, the Cavaliers stayed hot, winning four of the six first sets against the Tar Heels.

Junior Mans Dahlberg extended the UVA lead to 2-0, winning 6-2, 6-2 against Nick Mangiapane on court five.

Shortly after, UNC cut into the lead with a straight set win on court two.

Playing on the top court, freshman Rafael Jódar won his ninth straight match, defeating Constantinos Djakouris 6-3, 6-0 to put Virginia up 3-1.

Freshman Roy Horovitz picked up his first collegiate win on court six, winning in straight sets against Dennis Perumov to clinch the win for the Hoos.

On the final two courts, Kim and Hopper picked up the points for the Cavaliers. Kim won in straight sets on court four against No. 114 Anthony Wright. Hopper saved seven match points on court three to defeat Chris Xu in a match tiebreak to finish off the win in Chapel Hill.

MATCH NOTES

• Rafael Jódar improves to 9-1 this season
• Roy Horovitz recorded the first collegiate win of his career
• James Hopper picked up the 100th collegiate singles victory of his career
• Keegan Rice made his debut playing at No. 2 singles
• Jódar and Mans Dahlberg partnered together for the first time, playing at No. 3 doubles
• Jangjun Kim improves to 8-2 on the year
• Hopper and Rice improve to 8-2 in doubles this season
• Sophomore Dylan Dietrich was unavailable for the Cavaliers

UP NEXT

• The Cavaliers return home next weekend, taking on No. 10 NC State on Friday (March 7) at 3 p.m. and No. 1 Wake Forest on Sunday (March 9) at 1 p.m.

#5 Virginia 6, North Carolina 1
Singles competition

1. #17 Rafael Jodar (VA) def. C. Djakouris (UNC) 6-3, 6-0
2. Vladislav Melnic (UNC) def. Keegan Rice (VA) 6-3, 6-3
3. James Hopper (VA) def. #113 Chris Xu (UNC) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (14-12)
4. Jangjun Kim (VA) def. #114 Anthony Wright (UNC) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. Nick Mangiapane (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
6. Roy Horovitz (VA) def. Dennis Perumov (UNC) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. #38 James Hopper/Keegan Rice (VA) def. Chris Xu/Vladislav Melnic (UNC) 6-4
2. Jangjun Kim/Ty Switzer (VA) def. Patrick Schoen/Anthony Wright (UNC) 6-3
3. C. Djakouris/Nick Mangiapane (UNC) vs. Rafael Jodar/Mans Dahlberg (VA) 4-5, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,2,1,6,4,3)
T-2:32