Virginia traveled to North Carolina over the weekend for two ACC matches against No. 16 NC State Friday and No. 13 Wake Forest Sunday. The Cavaliers (9-2, 3-0 ACC) first defeated the Wolfpack (4-4, 2-1 ACC) 5-2 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C. Virginia then topped Wake Forest (11-3, 3-1 ACC) in Winston-Salem by a score of 5-2.
Match 1 — Virginia 5, NC State 2
The Cavaliers began the afternoon in Raleigh with a strong start on the doubles courts. The pairing of freshmen Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and Inaki Montes de la Torre continued their success in doubles with a 6-3 win over junior Yannai Barkai and senior Collin Shick. Von der Schulenburg and Montes have now won four straight doubles matches, earning an overall record of 7-2.
Graduate student Carl Soderlund and junior William Woodall sealed the doubles point for Virginia by defeating senior Tadas Babelis and sophomore Robin Catry 6-4. After the doubles point was won, the match between junior Ryan Goetz and freshman Chris Rodesch and No. 23 fifth-year student Alexis Galarneau and senior Robert Turzak was left unfinished, with Galarneau and Turzak leading 5-4 when the match was paused.
The Wolfpack tied the overall match score after No. 7 Galarneau handed No. 29 Soderlund his first singles loss of the season, defeating Soderlund in straight sets 6-2, 7-5. With the match tied, three Virginia freshmen won their singles matches to clinch the victory for the Cavaliers.
On the No. 4 singles court, Rodesch defeated Catry in three sets, winning the first set 6-2 before falling 3-6 in the second set and rebounding in the third set to win 6-3. No. 105 von der Schulenburg brought the match score to 3-1 with his win over junior Rafa Izquierdo Luque. Montes sealed the victory for the Cavaliers defeating No. 95 Babelis in three sets. Montes dropped the first set in a tiebreaker, then dominated the second set — winning 6-0 — and finished with a 7-3 victory in the third-set tiebreaker.
The remainder of the singles matches were played out with Goetz earning a straight set win over sophomore Martins Rocens and freshman Alexander Kiefer falling to Robert Turzak in a third-set super tiebreaker 10-6.
“The Wolfpack are always tough on their courts,” Coach Andres Pedroso said. “The goal was to play a complete match today on every court and that’s what our guys accomplished.”
Match 2 — Virginia 5, Wake Forest 2
On Sunday, Virginia competed in Winston-Salem in a rematch versus Wake Forest. The Cavaliers won the second meeting between the two teams 5-2.
The Cavaliers’ recent success in doubles matches continued — capturing the doubles point for the fifth straight match. The pairing of Soderlund and Woodall dominated senior Eduardo Nava and sophomore Henri Squire, winning the match 6-1. Nava and Squire won the first meeting of the season between the two pairs, topping Soderlund and Woodall 6-2. Montes and von der Schulenburg clinched the point with a 6-3 win.
Virginia dominated the singles matches and won four straight to clinch the victory over the Demon Deacons. In the No. 1 singles match, Soderlund defeated Squire in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-4. Montes earned a straight set win over Nava, winning 6-3 in the both first and second set. Von der Schulenburg improved to 10-1 in singles matches on the season, easily defeating No. 107 Taha Baadi 6-3, 6-2. On the No. 5 singles court, Goetz won the close first set 7-6 before a dominant second-set performance, defeating Filippo Moroni 6-1, bringing the overall match score to 5-0.
No. 92 senior Rrezart Cungu earned the Demon Deacons their first point of the day, winning a third-set super tiebreaker against Kiefer 10-8. Junior Melios Efstathiou defeated Rodesch to end the match with the final score reading 5-2 in Virginia’s favor.
The Cavaliers return to Charlottesville for eight straight home matches throughout the month of March. Virginia begins the homestand March 5 when it hosts Miami at the Boar's Head Sports Club with first serve set for 2 p.m.
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