On Friday, Virginia Men’s Tennis (17-2, 11-0 ACC) extended its win-streak to 11 matches after defeating Notre Dame (12-9, 5-5 ACC) by a score of 4-2 on the Irish’s home turf. After a seven-match homestand at Charlottesville’s Boar’s Head Sports Center, the Hoos had to adjust to playing in low fifty-degree temperatures and windy conditions in South Bend, Indiana. Furthermore, Carl Soderlund was missing from the line-up, replaced instead by freshman Alex Kiefer. However, the Hoos persisted, winning their penultimate regular season match.
Commenting on the match, Virginia Head Coach Andres Pedroso said, “Credit to the Fighting Irish, once again. As for the Wahoos, our guys are as tough as they come. They battle and for that, they are a joy to go to war with. Gutsy win by the Wahoos today.”
Notre Dame gained an early advantage in doubles, winning the first match 6-2, but the Cavaliers took home the point in the other two highly competitive matches. On court 2, Jeffrey Schulenburg and Inaki Montes won 6-4, bringing their ACC doubles record to 9-0. With this victory, the pair have won their last 11 matches. On court 1, William Woodall and Chris Rodesch ultimately prevailed 7-6, clinching the doubles point for the Wahoos in the pair’s first time playing together this season.
In singles, the Cavaliers scored strong first-set victories on nearly every court, but Schulenburg and Kiefer dropped their respective first sets 3-6. First to finish was Gianni Ross, who gave UVA a 2-0 lead with a score of 6-2, 6-2. However, the Irish soon delivered a victory of their own when Schulenburg lost his second set tiebreaker to Axel Nefve, the reigning ACC Men’s Tennis Player of the Week.
On court 2, No. 49 Inaki Montes was engaged in a three-set battle against No. 74 Richard Ciamarra and ultimately prevailed with a third-set score of 7-5. Once again, the Irish responded with their own victory on court 6 against freshman Alex Kiefer, who fell in three sets to senior William Howells.
At 3-2, the Cavaliers needed only one more victory to bring home the win. The match was clinched by Wiliam Woodall, who rebounded from a 7-5 setback in his second set to defeat Connor Fu 6-2 in the third set.
William Woodall after clinching the victory for the Cavaliers
After defeating Notre Dame, Virginia further cements its No. 1 position in the ACC. This Sunday, the Hoos will face off against Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky in the Cavaliers’ final regular season match. Leading the all-time series against the Cardinals at 9-2, Virginia is expected to bring home a win and finish its season undefeated in the ACC.
