No. 1 Virginia men’s tennis traveled to Austin, Tex. Thursday to face off against No. 3 Texas in a rematch of last year’s NCAA semifinals, where Virginia topped Texas 4-1 to advance to the championships. The Cavaliers (3-0, 0-0 ACC) defeated the Longhorns (2-1, 0-0 Big 12) 4-3 and still remain undefeated in the start of their 2024 spring season.
Once doubles play started, the matchup looked evenly matched. Texas won on the top court, but Virginia won at court two to even the score 1-1. Court three was tied 5-5 until freshman Dylan Dietrich and senior Alexander Kiefer picked up a break and made the score 6-5. They held serve for the final point to make the score 7-5, and they secured the point for the Cavaliers.
The Longhorns kept the game close though by winning the first point for singles play on court four. The matchup continued to be a game of back-and-forth, with the Cavaliers pulling ahead only for the Longhorns to tie up the game again.
Senior Chris Rodesch defeated the nation’s top-ranked singles player and 2023 ITA player of the year, fifth year Eliot Spizzirri, to put Virginia in the lead. This was Rodesch’s first ever victory against a player that is No. 1 nationally. No. 2 senior Micah Braswell tied up the game by defeating Virginia’s senior Jeffrey Von Der Schulenberg on court two.
Sophomore Måns Dahlberg helped the Cavaliers pull back ahead by taking down No. 28 sophomore Jonah Braswell 6-3, 6-3 on court six — his highest-ranked win of his career. Once again, though, Texas tied up the game to make the score 3-3, thanks to freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly winning the tiebreaker 8-6 against Dietrich on court three.
In the end, it came down to the final singles match on court five, where Kiefer faced fifth year Siem Woldeab. The first set was close, with both taking turns winning points and deadlocking at 6-6. Kiefer managed to take the first set 7-5, but Woldeab took the second set 6-2. However, Kiefer stayed calm and persevered to win the decider 6-2 and clinched the victory for the Cavaliers. Earning a massive win over an elite program early in the season, Coach Andres Pedroso praised both the championship pedigree of Virginia and the talents of Texas.
“Congrats to Texas for a really hard fought match,” Pedroso said. “This match could have gone either way but our guys just hung tough and found a way to win a few more points. The goal is always to fight until the end like the close, united team that we are. That’s what our Wahoos did tonight. We will enjoy this one tonight and get back to work tomorrow in Charlottesville.”
This victory highlights that Virginia continues to be a force in men’s tennis. The Cavaliers have won their last 25 dual matches and haven’t lost an outdoor match since the NCAA Round of 16 in 2021. This win makes Virginia’s all-time record against Texas 12-2 — they have also won the last eight meetings.
This is also not the first time that Kiefer has clinched the win for Virginia. In the 2023 NCAA Semifinals, Kiefer won a tiebreaker in the third set — helping the Cavaliers go on to become NCAA Champions.
Continuing to look good individually, graduate student James Hopper was recently named ACC Player of the Week. Before the matchup against Texas, Hopper had gone 2-0 at the doubles position and picked up a pair of singles victories. This is his first season as a Cavalier after having an impressive four years at Division III Case Western. With new players like Hopper and Dietrich joining the team, it looks like it is going to be another impressive season for the back-to-back National Champions.
The Cavaliers have another tough opponent coming up — they will be hosting No. 5 South Carolina Sunday at the Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville at 1 p.m. The Gamecocks were recently picked to be the top finishers in the SEC, and this matchup will continue to help preview how Virginia will perform later in the season when playoffs begin.
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