On Sunday, the Virginia Men’s Tennis team (18-2, 12-0 ACC) officially became the ACC regular season champion by defeating Louisville (10-10, 3-8 ACC) 4-1 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center at Louisville, Kentucky.
The Cavaliers captured the 2021 regular season title without losing to a single team in the ACC. This marks the 14th ACC regular season title for the Hoos and the 11th time the team has gone undefeated in the ACC. However, for UVA Head Coach Andres Pedroso, who assumed his position in 2017, the title is the first in his career as head coach. Virginia started the season ranked #22 in the nation, and has climbed up to the #5 position under his leadership.
Ranked #50, Louisville was easy competition for Virginia, as expected. In doubles, Ryan Goetz and Gianni Ross, in their first time playing together, won 6-0. After the Cavaliers lost on court 1, William Woodall and Matthew Lord, also playing together for the first time, clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 score on court 2.
In singles, victories were delivered by Ryan Goetz (6-2, 6-3) , Inaki Montes (7-6, 6-1), and Jeffrey Schulenburg (7-6, 7-5). With the win, Inaki Montes has a 9-game win streak, the longest active streak in the team, and finished the season with a perfect 9-0 ACC record.
Commenting on Schulenburg’s clinching the team win in such a close match, Coach Pedroso said, “I’m very proud of Jeffrey Schulenburg, who came up with a clutch win at #1 singles. That’s not very easy to do as a first year.” He then added, “Now it’s time for the best part of the season.”
Looking ahead, the Cavaliers will compete in the 2021 ACC Tennis Championship at Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga. As the top seed, Virginia will begin play in the quarterfinals on Friday against either Georgia Tech or Miami.
