In the end, the NCAA Championship title came down to one final third set, one final court and one final player standing between Virginia and another national title. With every teammate courtside surrounding Court 1 and every point carrying championship implications, No. 4-seed Virginia defeated fellow powerhouse No. 2-seed Texas to capture the NCAA Championship at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
The Cavaliers (28-4, 12-1 ACC), chasing their seventh national championship and third in the past five seasons, survived multiple momentum swings and an early deficit before once again proving why Virginia remains one of college tennis’ foremost programs. Across the net stood the Longhorns (29-7, 13-5 SEC) desperate to reclaim the NCAA crown for the first time since 2019 after falling one win short in 2024, while also looking to avenge a January loss at home to Virginia.
With the NCAA title on the line, the Cavaliers and Longhorns pushed each other to the brink in a dramatic battle that ultimately came down to the final court — Court 1. There, junior and No. 1 singles player Dylan Dietrich clinched the deciding singles match, cementing a dramatic 4-3 victory and earning Virginia another championship under Coach Andres Pedroso, as well as the University’s 37th national title across all sports.
But the match did not look in Virginia’s favor at first. Texas seized early momentum by taking the doubles point and quickly extending its lead to 2-0 in singles, putting the Cavaliers in danger of watching the national championship slip away.
Virginia dropped the doubles for a second time in a row as Texas used strong performances on the bottom two courts to seize early momentum in Sunday’s national championship match.
On Court 1, No. 12-ranked pairing of senior Mans Dahlberg and Dietrich gave Virginia its lone doubles win, defeating Texas’ freshman duo Kalin Ivanovski and Abel Forger 6-3. The Cavalier pair looked sharp from the start, controlling service games and giving Virginia an early chance to take the opening point.
Texas quickly answered on Court 2, where No. 21-ranked pairing of senior Sebastian Gorzny and freshman Lucas Marionneau defeated freshman Andres Santamarta and sophomore Jangjun Kim 6-4. Gorzny, who won the 2022 Wimbledon Junior Doubles Championship alongside current ATP World No. 42 Alex Michelsen, brought clear doubles experience to the matchup as the Longhorns evened the doubles score.
The point was decided on Court 3, where Texas’ No. 46 sophomore pairing of Oliver Ojakaar and Sebastian Eriksson beat Virginia’s sophomore pairing of Stiles Brockett and Keegan Rice 6-2. Texas’ win on the bottom court clinched the doubles point, giving the Longhorns a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Texas carried its doubles momentum into singles with a quick result on Court 4, where No. 89 Ojakaar defeated No. 58 Santamarta Roig 6-1, 6-4 to extend the Longhorns’ lead. Ojakaar entered the match unbeaten in dual-match singles play in his two seasons of college tennis, and though Santamarta Roig attempted to raise his level in the second set after a difficult opener, Ojakaar’s consistency from the baseline and ability to control rallies proved too much, moving Texas ahead 2-0.
Virginia answered immediately on Court 2, with No. 21 Rice delivering the Cavaliers’ first singles point of the afternoon. Rice dominated Texas’ No. 41 Ivanovski 6-1, 6-3 and closed the match, reaching match point at 5-3, 40-0 before sealing the victory moments later to cut the deficit to 2-1. Rice controlled the pace throughout the afternoon, winning 11 of 20 return points in the second set while converting six of his 11 break point opportunities during the match.
The Cavaliers later evened the dual, as Brockett produced another clutch postseason performance on Court 5. After taking the opening set 6-4 against No. 102 Forger, Brockett found himself serving for the match at 5-4 in the second. Brockett stayed composed in the moment and closed out a 6-4, 6-4 victory, tying the national championship match at two apiece. Dominant on return throughout the match, Brockett won 81 percent of his second set return points and converted all four of his break point opportunities.
Not long afterwards, Texas regained the advantage on Court 6, where Marionneau defeated Dahlberg 6-3, 7-5. Dahlberg battled late in the second and fought to keep Virginia alive, but Marionneau got up a break in the second then closed the door while serving at 6-5 to give Texas a 3-2 lead and move them within one point of the national title.
With the Longhorns now one point from the championship, the pressure shifted onto No. 114 Kim on Court 3. After taking the first set 6-1 against No. 35 Eriksson, Kim found himself locked in a tense second set tiebreak. The breaker swung back and forth, with Kim moving ahead 5-4 after Eriksson missed badly wide before the Texas freshman answered to level it at 5-5 when Kim’s backhand down the line narrowly missed. After surviving multiple set points and generating nine total match points in the breaker, Kim finally closed out an 11-9 tiebreak victory to secure a 6-1, 7-6 (9) win and tie the Championship match at 3-3.
That left the national title resting entirely on the top 5 showdown on Court 1, where top-ranked Dietrich battled No. 3-ranked Gorzny in the final set. After dropping the opening set in a tiebreak, Dietrich responded under pressure in the second, holding serve in all five of his service games and winning 79 percent of his service points. Serving at 5-4, Dietrich closed the set well, forcing a deciding third set with the NCAA title hanging in the balance.
Dietrich’s championship-clinching performance only grew stronger in the third set. Trailing 3-1 against Gorzny, Dietrich began to swing momentum back in Virginia’s favor with a massive deuce point winner, firing a passing shot clean past Gorzny to hold serve and cut the deficit to 3-2.
After leveling the set at 3-3 on serve, Dietrich completely flipped the match, breaking ahead 4-3 before delivering one of his strongest service games of the afternoon. Up 40-0 in the pivotal seventh game — often viewed as the most important game in a set — Dietrich confidently held to move ahead 5-3 and push Virginia within one game of the national championship.
Gorzny, serving to stay alive, immediately faced pressure as the Virginia crowd erupted after consecutive unforced errors that gave Dietrich a 30-0 advantage. However, Gorzny’s serving on the ad side proved damaging, as he fought off two championship points with aggressive first serves and held to cut the deficit to 5-4, leaving Dietrich to do what he does best, serve, for the NCAA title.
With every player from both teams surrounding Court 1, both players visibly showed signs of fatigue after emotional semifinal victories less than 24 hours earlier. Dietrich continued constructing points carefully from the baseline despite failing to land a single first serve in the deciding game. On championship point, Gorzny’s return off another Dietrich second serve found the net, sending an elated Virginia squad sprinting onto Court 1 as the Cavaliers secured a dramatic 4-3 NCAA Championship victory.
Afterward, Dietrich, who was named MVP of the tournament after going 5-0 in the tournament, admitted the pressure of the moment was unlike anything he had experienced before.
“You always dream about being in that moment,” Dietrich said. “It’s 3-3, it comes down to you, and you think about clinching. But at the same time, if you lose, it feels like everything falls apart with you. It was both enjoyable and a lot of pressure, but ultimately just a huge relief at the end.”
The victory secured Virginia’s third NCAA Championship in five seasons and further cemented the Cavaliers’ place among college tennis dynasties under head coach Pedroso. After battling through electrifying postseason wins over Columbia, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Wake Forest and Texas, Virginia once again proved why it is the premier program in college tennis, surviving one of the toughest NCAA Tournament paths in recent memory to finish the season atop the sport.
“I make sure they believe that when they walk on the grounds of the University for the first time that we play our best tennis in May and we are the closest team,” Pedroso said.
For Pedroso, the championship represented more than just another trophy for the Cavaliers.
“More than anything, what means more than this is what you learn that you are going to take with you for life,” Pedroso said. “All the adversities you went through, all the victories — you guys are going to do a lot in life.”
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