Cavaliers Now

Inaki Montes and Emma Navarro Named ACC Tennis Players of the Year

Montes and Navarro were voted as the ACC Men's and Women's Tennis Players of the Year, respectively, and Andres Pedroso was named the ACC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year

Matt Newton

Inaki Montes and Emma Navarro, Virginia Cavaliers tennis
Inaki Montes and Emma Navarro / Photos courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its annual tennis awards and all-conference teams on Thursday and the Virginia tennis program boasted several representatives up and down the list. Virginia sophomores Emma Navarro and Inaki Montes de la Torre swept the women's and men's ACC Player of the Year awards, while Andres Pedroso was named the ACC Men's Tennis Coach of the Year. 

The Virginia men's tennis team captured the ACC regular season and tournament titles and then sustained that momentum into NCAAs, winning the program's fifth national championship and first under Andres Pedroso, who was named the ACC Coach of the Year for the third-consecutive season. 

This is also the third season in a row that a Cavalier has been named ACC Men's Tennis Player of the Year. Carl Söderlund won the accolade in 2019 and 2021 and Inaki Montes won it this year after a sensational sophomore campaign. Montes went 22-5 in singles this season, including a perfect 6-0 record against top 25 players. Montes' victory over North Carolina's Benjamin Sigouin clinched the ACC Championship for the Cavaliers. 

Montes was joined on the All-ACC First Team by fellow sophomore Chris Rodesch. Senior Ryan Goetz and sophomore Jeffrey von der Schulenburg were named to the All-ACC Second Team and senior Gianni Ross earned All-ACC Third Team honors. 

The UVA women's tennis team advanced to the finals of the ACC Championship and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. The Cavaliers were led by superstar sophomore Emma Navarro, who became the first student-athlete in school history to be named the ACC Women's Tennis Player of the Year. 

Navarro went 26-2 in singles and was ranked No. 1 in ITA's rankings for several weeks this season, before falling in the Round of 16 of the singles tournament as she came up short of defending her 2021 NCAA Singles title. She finished the season ranked No. 2 in singles and No. 4 in doubles and made the All-ACC First Team for the second season in a row. 

Junior Natasha Subhash was named to the All-ACC Second Team and freshman Elaine Chervinsky earned an All-ACC Third Team selection. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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