Fresh off their 7-0 knockout of Miami last Friday, the Virginia Men’s Tennis team (10-2, 4-0 ACC) cruised past Florida State (5-5, 0-2 ACC) in a 4-0 victory. Claiming their win under perfect weather conditions, the Hoos have now won all both of their matches played at Boar’s Head Sports Club.
The Cavaliers started off winning the Doubles point, but not without a fight. Playing for UVA on Court 3, Schulenburg and Montes defeated their opponents 6-1, refusing to allow FSU a chance to come back. But Rodesch and Goetz had difficulty on Court 2, losing 2-6. The fate of the doubles point rested with Court 1’s Soderlund and Woodall. To support their teammates on Court 1, the rest of the team lined up on an adjacent court and fiercely chanted “Let’s Go Wa-Hoos!” throughout the remainder of the set. The rest of the nail-biting set saw the two sides tied at 4-4 and 5-5. Leading 6-5 at deuce, the Virginia duo won the match point as Soderlund overpowered the other team in a forehand battle.
Building off their doubles momentum, the Hoos quickly gained three Singles wins, bringing the total score to 4-0 against the Seminoles. Finishing first was Carl Soderlund on Court 1, who jetted past Luxembourg-native Alex Knaff 6-3, 6-0. Court 5’s Ryan Goetz delivered the second Cavalier Singles victory at 6-3 6-3, coming back strong after his stumbling Doubles loss. Closing out the contest, freshman Chris Rodesch delivered a decisive 6-3, 6-3 win against Sebastian Arcila, redshirt junior for the Seminoles.
The contest ended with 4 of 7 points won by Virginia. On Court 4, Inaki Montes was poised to win at 6-1 4-3, but Schulenburg and Woodall were each tied up in close matches on Courts 2 and 6, as both of their matches went to tiebreakers in the first set.
With the win, Hoos tennis is now on an exhilarating five-game winning streak. The Cavaliers face off next against Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0 ACC) on Friday March 12 at the Boar’s Head courts, where the Wahoos will have a chance to extend their current 4-0 ACC record.
