Photo courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Communications
Virginia Men's Tennis Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals With 4-0 Sweep Over South Carolina
Photo courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Communications
Another NCAA Tournament match, another sweep for UVA men's tennis.
No. 7 Virginia (25-5) took down No. 10 South Carolina (23-7) with a 4-0 sweep in the Super Regional round of 16 of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship on Friday afternoon at Boar's Head. UVA has won each of its three NCAA matches via 4-0 sweep so far. The Cavaliers advance to the quarterfinals, where they will take on No. 2 Florida.
Virginia and South Carolina played through doubles action and part of the way through singles play on the outdoor courts at Boar's Head, but then the match was moved indoors due to inclement weather.
Gianni Ross and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg gave the Cavaliers a good start with a 6-4 win on the third doubles court over Casey Hoole and Toby Samuel. But, the Gamecocks responded as No. 18 Daniel Rodrigues and Connor Thomson took down No. 61 Bar Botzer and Chris Rodesch 6-3 on court 1. Ryan Goetz and Inaki Montes clinched the doubles point for Virginia with a 6-3 victory over Raphael Lambling and James Story.
In singles play, UVA picked up victories on the bottom three courts. Gianni Ross won two hard-fought sets over James Story to win 6-4, 7-5. On court 4, Ryan Goetz defeated Raphael Lambling 6-4, 6-1 to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 advantage.
After dropping the first set against Casey Hoole, Bar Botzer rallied to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to finish off the Gamecocks and clinch Virginia's 20th consecutive victory.
UVA advances to the quarterfinals for the 15th time in the last 17 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships. Virginia will take on No. 2 Florida in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday, May 19th at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Illinois. The Cavaliers and Gators met earlier this season on February 19th in a consolation match at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Florida won that matchup 4-2.
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