No. 5 Virginia kicked off its NCAA Tournament berth against Rider at home Friday afternoon. Entering the day following a disappointing loss to then-No. 7 Wake Forest (30-3, 12-1 ACC), the Cavaliers (23-4, 12-1 ACC) bounced back with a sub-two-hour win over the Broncs (12-8, 6-2 MAAC) to propel them into the second round.
They got right to work in doubles.
On Line 2, freshman Andres Santamarta Roig and senior Douglas Yaffa played an electric set of tennis against junior Ibrahim Turgambekov and freshman Heath Paul Waters. Sporting matching headbands, the duo looked nearly unstoppable. A break in the first game paired with a monster forehand from Santamarta while tied at deuce in the second gave them a lightning quick 2-0 lead which they never even seemed close to relinquishing. While Rider took the subsequent game, huge serves from Yaffa and another break saw the pair take a 4-1 lead, before securing a 6-2 win shortly afterwards.
Line 1 saw No. 12 senior Måns Dahlberg and junior Dylan Dietrich in a much tighter contest against Broncs sophomores Matteus Dahlin and Cole Thurger. Down 1-0, a Dietrich serve and Dahlberg smash brought it to 1 apiece before the Cavaliers went down 3-1. Virginia would get the break in the next game to bring it back to 3-2, but, after being broken right back and the game after, the pair found themselves in a 5-2 hole. A couple easy points missed at the net were proof that shots were simply not falling. While they managed to close the gap to a 5-3 deficit, the set would ultimately go unfinished.
Similar to Santamarta and Yaffa, sophomores Stiles Brockett and Keegan Rice went to work on Line 3. Matched up with senior Roger Martinez and sophomore Axel Engstrom, the two Cavaliers put on a wonderful display of serving and volleying which allowed them to quickly go up 4-0. Brockett specifically was masterful with his serve. While their opponents won two games, up 5-2, Brockett and Rice would eventually go on to win 6-2, claiming the doubles point for Virginia.
Needing only three singles wins to move on, the Cavaliers made remarkably quick work of their opponents.
Dahlberg declared victory first on Court 5, utterly dominating his opponent in senior Nathan Slattery from start to finish. Hunting his forehand all day, Dahlberg bursted to a 4-0 lead, with beautiful shots both down the line and cross court that left Engstorm no chance to respond. A couple aces in the next few games gave him a 6-1 win in the first set. In the second, still hunting his forehand, Dahlberg’s 2-1 lead turned to 5-1 in the blink of an eye before eventually walking away with a 6-1 win and the first of the Cavaliers singles points.
On the remaining courts, it was essentially a race to see who would finish first.
Somehow, on Court 2, No. 21 Rice seemed even more dominant against Dahlin than Dahlberg was on Court 5. Calm from the baseline and composed in his ballstriking, Rice walked away from the first set with a 6-0 bagel, hardly missing a single shot at the net.
At the same time on Court 1, No. 1 Dietrich got off to a strong start against sophomore Cole Thurger, taking a 2-0 then 4-1 lead as Thurger simply could not handle the serve, forehand or any of Dietrich’s offensive weapons. A methodical cross court backhand to set up a cross court forehand winner gave Dietrich a 5-2 lead and eventual 6-2 win in the first set.
It was much the same on Court 4, as Brockett swiftly dismantled sophomore Axel Engstrom. Ripping forehands just as Dietrich was, Brockett took a quick 4-0 lead before dropping one game to make it 4-1. Nevertheless, a classy pickup off the floor as he rushed the net allowed him to breeze to a 6-1 first set victory.
On Court 3, No. 58 Santamarta Roig had undoubtedly the most competitive match of the day against fellow freshman Waters. Long, exhausting points saw the pair locked at 1-1 before Santamarta started forcing Waters to move all over the court. Looking driven and composed, Santamarta Roig continued to dictate long points en route to a 6-3 first set win. Unfortunately, a much more competitive second set between the two would not get to finish — as Santamarta Roig conquered an early deficit to cut a deficit to 5-3 before play was halted.
On Court 6, Yaffa took on junior Matthew Griscti in what began as a fair bout before turning into an unfair rout. Locked at 2-2, long points saw both players get tired. Stuck at deuce in the fifth game of the first set, a missed overhead smash that went way behind the baseline saw Yaffa go down 3-2 in what could have been a pivotal moment for his opponent. Unfortunately for him, Yaffa went on to win the next four and claim a 6-3 win in the first. The second set proved to be nothing like the first, as Yaffa got off to an explosive 2-0 start, which turned into a commanding 5-1 lead as he ran all over the court and never gave up on a single ball. Just like Santamarta, his match would be cut short.
Back on Court 2, at the same time as Yaffa’s second set was starting, Rice and Dahlin were tied at 1-1. A few nice in-and-out forehands put Rice 3-1 up before a thunderous serve down the middle and smooth backhand dropshot gave him a 4-1 lead. The two exchanged the next two games before Rice, up 5-2 with match point, hit a lovely backhand down the line to secure the second singles point for Virginia and a 3-0 lead.
With Brockett and Dietrich still playing, only one would lay claim to the decisive third singles point.
Brockett’s second set went as did much of the first. A lovely drop shot put him up 3-0 before Engstrom proceeded got on the board, then a beautiful forehand down the line, sending his opponent the wrong way, gave Brockett a 4-1 lead. In the sixth, Brockett walked Engstrom down with cross court forehands before opening it up down the line to make it 5-1. Fortunately for Engstrom, he would steal the next game, making it 5-2, and saving himself from an extra loss on his record as Dietrich’s game would finish first.
It was only right that the No. 1 player in college would see the Cavaliers through to the next round. After starting down 2-1 in the second set, a monster serve and delicate drop shot from Dietrich made it 2-2. Dietrich proceeded to break his opponent in the next game before holding in the sixth after a big serve down the middle which his opponent could not return. From there, Dietrich started hitting every serve with precision and strength, eventually acing his opponent on match point to win 6-4 and secure the victory for Virginia.
The Cavaliers will face No. 26 Columbia tomorrow at Boar’s Head Resort. The Lions (17-7, 6-1 Ivy) advanced into the second round following a 4-0 win against St. Johns, but have a tall task ahead of them after such a dominant display today from Virginia. The Court 1 match between Dietrich and reigning NCAA singles champion and No. 5-ranked senior Michael Zheng will be the headliner, with the winner of tomorrow’s dual advancing to the Tournament’s Sweet 16.
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