No. 5 Virginia Falls to No. 6 NC State 4-3

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 5 Virginia men’s tennis team suffered a 4-3 loss to No. 6 NC State on Friday (March 7) on the outdoor courts of the Boar’s Head Resort.

In their second meeting of the season, the Cavaliers (9-4, 1-2 ACC) won the doubles point but fell to the Wolfpack (11-4, 3-0 ACC).

Graduate student James Hopper and freshman Rafael Jódar partnered together for the first time and came out victorious, starting the match with a 6-4 win on doubles court two. NC State picked up a 6-4 win on doubles court three, but sophomore Dylan Dietrich and junior Mans Dahlberg came through with a 7-5 win on the top court to give Virginia an early 1-0 lead over the Wolfpack.

After NC State tied the match with a win on court five, Jódar defeated No. 24 Braden Shick 6-3, 6-4 to retake the lead for the Hoos.

The Wolfpack took the lead back from Virginia with wins on courts three and six.

Just moments after NC State took the lead, Hopper pulled out a win on court four, winning the last six games of his match to defeat Fons Van Sambeek 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.

The match came down to court two. Dietrich dropped the first set against Martin Borisiouk but rallied to take the second set in a tiebreaker to force a deciding set. In the third, Borisiouk got the crucial break at 5-5 to serve for the match. Dietrich had two break point chances to stay in the match, but Borisiouk closed out the win for the Wolfpack on his second match point.

MATCH NOTES

• NC State snapped a six-match losing streak to Virginia
• The Cavaliers won the first meeting between the two teams this season 4-1 at the 2025 ITA National Team Indoor Championship on February 16
• Rafael Jódar won his tenth straight match, improving to 10-1 on the season
• Jódar picked up the first ranked doubles win of his career, topping No. 12 Luca Staeheli and Jules Leroux with partner James Hopper
• Dylan Dietrich and Mans Dahlberg recorded the highest ranked doubles win of their careers, defeating No. 8 Fons Van Sambeek and Braden Shick

UP NEXT

• The Cavaliers finish the weekend at home on Sunday (March 9), taking on No. 1 Wake Forest at 1 p.m.

#6 NC State 4, #5 Virginia 3
Singles competition

1. #18 Rafael Jodar (VA) def. #24 Braden Shick (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. #41 Martin Borisiouk (NCSU) def. #22 Dylan Dietrich (VA) 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5
3. #55 Luca Staeheli (NCSU) def. Keegan Rice (VA) 6-2, 6-3
4. James Hopper (VA) def. Fons Van Sambeek (NCSU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
5. Jules Leroux (NCSU) def. Jangjun Kim (VA) 6-4, 6-3
6. William Manning (NCSU) def. Mans Dahlberg (VA) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5

Doubles competition

1. #67 Dylan Dietrich/Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. #8 Fons Van Sambeek/Braden Shick (NCSU) 7-5
2. James Hopper/Rafael Jodar (VA) def. #12 Luca Staeheli/Jules Leroux (NCSU) 6-4
3. William Manning/Martin Borisiouk (NCSU) def. Ty Switzer/Jangjun Kim (VA) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,1,3,6,4,2)
T-3:45 A-171