No. 4 Virginia men’s tennis swept Miami in a decisive performance, winning 7-0 Friday at their brand new facility at Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville.
It was dominant work for the Cavaliers (10-2, 4-0 ACC), winners of three straight, as they played complementary and gritty tennis throughout the match to earn their fourth win in conference play. Virginia started off strong, quickly jumping out to a 3-0 lead over the Hurricanes (3-4, 2-1 ACC), earning the doubles point and then straight-set victories on courts one and three in singles.
In doubles, the Cavaliers won on the top two courts. Virginia graduate student Carl Söderlund and junior William Woodall defeated senior Benjamin Hannestad and junior Franco Aubone 6-1, while junior Ryan Goetz and freshman Chris Rodesch defeated seniors Adria Soriano Barrera and Stephen Madonia 6-2.
The third doubles match pitted a pair of freshman Cavaliers in Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and Iñaki Montes against graduate student Stefan Milicevic and senior Bojan Jankulovski. The set remained unfinished with Virginia leading 3-2.
Montes had the most dominant performance of the match for the Cavaliers, quickly defeating Benjamin Hannestad on court three in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. On the top court, Sönderlund won 6-1, 7-6 against Barrera, closing out the second set with a competitive 7-5 tie-breaker victory.
The Cavaliers continued their perfection throughout the day. On court two, Schulenburg rallied from a tough first set 6-1, winning the next two sets against Jankulovski 6-3 and 6-4.
A similar pattern occurred on the remaining courts. Goetz rebounded from a first-set loss by winning his next two sets 6-1 and 6-2. Rodesch and freshman Alexander Kiefer both won their first sets, but each dropped their second set to force a third set. Rodesch won his decider 6-2, while Kiefer completed the sweep with a close 6-4 set.
The Cavaliers certainly must have been pleased with the performance they put on to open up play at their brand new facility at Boar’s Head Resort. Although Miami is not a powerhouse, currently ranked No. 39 in this week’s ITA rankings, the victory provides Virginia with confidence at its new found home.
“We're really excited to be on the new courts with a beautiful place to play tennis,” Coach Andres Pedroso said. “We learned a lot about what it's like to play here, with the wind and the sun.”
Although the score suggested a dominant outing, there was still some getting used to with the new features at Boar’s Head Resort for the Cavaliers.
“It's just new elements that we're not used to, so there really wasn't a home court advantage today”, Pedroso said. “But I thought our guys handled it well and problem solved and we got through it for the [win].”
The Cavaliers won’t have long to get acclimated to their new home, as they hosted Florida State Monday and Georgia Tech Friday. Both matches are begin at 2:30 p.m.
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