Entering the day following a picture perfect 4-0 sweep over rivals Virginia Tech, No. 4 Virginia faced off against a tough California team in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship. Despite their middling record, the Golden Bears (16-13, 6-8) were coming off a 5-0 win over No. 34 SMU and looked confident in their ability to pull off an upset over one of college tennis’ best. They nearly did, pushing the Cavaliers (21-3, 13-1) to the brink of elimination before some otherworldly individual self-belief brought Virginia all the way back to win 4-3.
The doubles matches proved challenging to the Cavaliers. As each pairing was engaged in a tight contest, California barely escaped with the point.
On Court 1, the No. 45-ranked pairing of senior Måns Dahlberg and sophomore Jangjun Kim took on No 33 juniors Alex Aney and Timofey Stepanov. After holds throughout the first six games, with Virginia coming back from down 0-40 to make it 3-3, the Golden Bears duo proceeded to win the next three games, breaking Dahlberg and Kim to go up 5-3 before ultimately winning 6-3.
Sophomores Keegan Rice and Stiles Brockett battled against sophomores Bernardo Munk Mesa and Paris Pouatcha on Court 3. In a set that was just as close as the other courts’, the two pairings were deadlocked at 2-2, Munk Mesa and Pouatcha broke Rice and Brockett in a critical deuce in game 5, eventually taking a commanding 5-3 lead. However, Rice and Brockett got a hold and break of their own to tie it at five apiece. While it was looking like a stellar finish was in store, Court 3 would ultimately be left unfinished, as California took a 1-0 lead with a win on Court 2.
Court 2 saw junior Dylan Dietrich and freshman Andres Santamarta Roig in a dogfight against sophomore Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski and senior Tiago Silva. In what was a set with little to separate the two pairs, it came right down to the wire. After the Cavaliers got up 2-0, Lechno-Wasiutynski and Silva fought back, eventually taking command of a 5-4 lead. Needing to win the next game, Dietrich and Santamarta Roig stormed all the way back from down 15-40, fending off two set points to make it 5-5. Unfortunately, their opponents would hold in the subsequent game, going up 6-5, before breaking the Cavaliers to win 7-5 and clinch the doubles point.
Having won the doubles point and really shown Virginia that they were here to play, the Golden Bears were looking for three singles wins to move on to the semifinals. Unfortunately for them, in the singles matches, the Cavaliers brought their game up a level when it mattered most.
On Court 4, No. 124 Kim fell quickly to Munk Mesa. After breaking Kim in the third game, Munk Mesa took a 2-1 lead which he would eventually turn into a dominant 6-2 first set win. In the second, Kim put up much more of a fight. Both exchanged holds all the way until 5-5, where Munk Mesa then got the first break, allowing him to go up 6-5 and eventually win 7-5. This gave California the first singles point, making the overall game score 2-0 to the Golden Bears.
No. 1 Dietrich then proved his stature against No. 64 Lechno-Wasiutynski on Court 1 to put the Cavaliers on the board. In the first set, the two held serves back and forth all the way. After reaching 5 all, Dietrich finally got the much sought after first break, going up 6-5 and then holding to take the first set 7-5. In the second, Dietrich got the first break after it was all square at 2-2, allowing him to get a 4-2 cushion which he then turned into a comfortable 6-3 win. This gave Virginia their first singles point, making it 2-1 to California.
In the first set on Court 5, Brockett and Pouatcha put on one of the best shows of the day. The two held serves until 3-3, before exchanging four consecutive breaks to make it 5-5. Both Pouatcha and Brockett would go on to hold, forcing a 6-6 tiebreak. While Brockett dominated in the early stages, going up 5-1, Paris never gave up, bringing it to 6-6. From there, the two went back and forth before Brockett finally pulled away with a 10-8 win to take the first set. Brockett found the second set far easier than the first, breaking in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and never letting go of it, taking the next three games to win 6-2 and give Virginia their second singles point, tying the match at 2-2.
With each team at two points, Santamarta Roig, Rice and Dahlberg’s matches all turned into three-set thrillers.
No. 48 Santamarta Roig fought hard against Silva on Court 3. After a break and hold gave Santamarta Roig a 3-1 cushion, Silva came back with a hold, break and hold of his own to go 4-3 up. Down 5-6, Santamarta Roig brilliantly broke Silva to force a 6-6 tiebreak at the same time Brockett was playing on his own.
Down 1-4 quickly, Santamarta Roig brought it back to 4-4 before eventually falling 5-7, losing the first set. In the second, a series of holds and breaks from both players led to yet another 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 stalemate. From here however, Santamarta held for a 6-5 lead before finally getting the last break to come up with a huge 7-5 win. In the third, yet another 2-2 led to Silva breaking, holding and breaking again to take a firm 5-2 lead. At this point however, Santamarta Roig dug in and, despite ultimately falling short, showed great effort to bring it back to 4-5 before Silva would go on to win, giving California a 3-2 lead.
On Court 2, No. 15 Rice faced Stepanov. Uncharacteristically, Rice fell quickly in the first set. After it was all even at 2-2, Stepanov got hot, completely taking control before winning 6-2.
After the exact same 2-2 start in the second set, Stepanov broke Rice to go up 3-2. Unfazed however, Rice broke Stepanov right back before the two held serves back and forth. At 5-5, Rice held to make it 6-5 before coming up clutch and breaking Stepanov to win 7-5 and force a third set.
Another 2-2 start saw Rice remain calm under pressure, pushing it to 3-3 before getting an absolutely crucial break against Stepanov to make it 5-3. From there, he won 6-3, tying it up for the Cavaliers at 3-3 with Dahlberg still playing to seal the deal.
On Court 6, it was only right for Dahlberg to push Virginia through against junior Lenn Luemkemann. After going down 0-4, Dahlberg brought it back to 3-4 before eventually dropping the first set 4-6. In the second however, Dahlberg was lights out, quickly going up 5-0 before giving up two games and walking away with a 6-2 win. In such a tightly contested day between all matches, it was fitting that the final set of the final match was perhaps the most back-and-forth.
At 2-2, Luemkemann broke Dahlberg, making it 3-2 before Dahlberg himself broke Luemkemann to tie it at 3-3. From here, a hold and break from Dahlberg saw him go 5-3 up. At this point, a win for the Cavalier veteran seemed a surefire thing. However, Leumkemann fired right back by breaking Dahlberg to keep himself in it down 4-5 before a sweep from 10th game tied it at five apiece.
The two exchanged the next two games, leading to yet another 6-6 tiebreak, this time to decide who moved on to the ACC Semifinals. Tied 2-2 and then 3-3 in the tiebreak, Luemkemann won two consecutive points to take a 5-3 lead, one which seemed irreversible. Unbelievably, Dahlberg then won three straight points, giving him a 6-5 lead before, serving for the match, he clinched it, winning 7-5, pulling off a stunning comeback to send Virginia through to the semifinals.
The Cavaliers now turn their attention to No. 24 Notre Dame tomorrow in the ACC Championship semifinals, where a win would see them appear in a second consecutive ACC Final.
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