On Senior Day, the Virginia Men’s Tennis Team (16-2, 10-0 ACC) obliterated Virginia Tech (9-7, 5-5 ACC) 6-1 in the Cavaliers’ final match at Boar’s Head Sports Club this season, Thursday afternoon. With the victory, Virginia has won 10 straight matches and is undefeated in its 7-match homestand at Boar’s Head Sports Club.
Commenting on their win, Virginia Head Coach Andres Pedroso said, “It doesn’t matter who we play, whether we’re playing the best team in the country or the 40th team in the country. Our guys are consistent…and they’ve got good attitudes.”
In a pregame ceremony, the Cavaliers honored their seniors: Ammar Alhaqbani, Spencer Bozsik, Jefferson Dockter, Matthew Lord, Ethan Moszkowski, Jerome Romuladez, Gianni Ross, and Carl Soderlund. Each of these eight student-athletes received a framed photo of themselves in action on the court and had the opportunity to enjoy the moment with family. Notably, this group of seniors was the first cohort that Coach Pedroso led as head coach.
Carl Soderlund with his father on Senior Day
Celebrating the seniors, Coach Pedroso remarked, “They were there for my mistakes, they were there with me learning things on the fly, and they were there for each other through the building of this program. I can’t say enough great things about this class.”
Entering the match, Jeffrey Schulenburg and Inaki Montes earned the first doubles victory for the Hoos 6-2, winning their 10th match in a row. But Soderlund and Woodall, who were named ACC Doubles Team of the Week, faltered 2-6 to sophomore Jordan Chrysostom and freshman Ryan Fishback, both five-star recruits for Virginia Tech. To win the Doubles point for the Hoos, Ryan Goetz and Chris Rodesch won their match 6-4. Rodesch, who clinched the Hoos’ two previous matches against UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke, entered the match as the ACC Co-Singles Player of the Week.
Jeffrey Schulenburg and Inaki Montes
The Hoos had a strong start to their Singles matches with a 6-1, 6-2 win by Montes. But Goetz fell 2-6, 2-6 to Ryan Fishback, who had just beaten the Hoos in doubles and was the No. 1 recruit in both the region and state of New York. After Goetz’s match, Soderlund reported a resounding 6-3, 6-3 win, giving the Cavaliers a 3-1 lead against the Hokies. With only one more win needed for the Hoos, senior Gianni Ross clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-4 win against freshman Alvaro Ariza.
Gianni Ross wins 6-2, 6-4 against Alvaro Ariza, clinching the match for the Hoos.
Commenting on his match, fifth-year Soderlund said, “Hearing the energy from the guys on the other court was great. It was energizing me as I went down early in the first set. I’m very happy with how everybody competed.”
The two remaining matches were tough battles, but ultimately resulted in Cavalier victories. On Court 2, No. 14-ranked Jeffrey Schulenburg had dropped his second set 3-6 after winning the first set 7-5 against No. 86-ranked Matthis Ross. Schulenburg prevailed in a super tiebreaker 10-4. Last to finish was Rodesch, who after losing his first set 4-6, won sets two and three 6-3, 6-4 against Carlo Donato.
With the win, Virginia leads the ACC at 10-0. The Cavaliers have two road matches against No. 42 Notre Dame and unranked Louisville before heading to Rome, Georgia for the ACC Championships at the end of April.
