No. 7 UVA Men's Tennis Opens Season with Three Victories

The Cavaliers defeated Liberty, Richmond, and No. 20 Harvard at Boar's Head this weekend

Matt Newton | Jan 23, 2022

Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

It was a near perfect weekend to start the spring season for the No. 7 Virginia men's tennis team. The Cavaliers hosted three opponents at the Boar's Head Sports Club this weekend and defeated all three, dropping just one singles match in the process.

Friday: No. 7 Virginia 7, Liberty 0

On Friday, Virginia faced Liberty and swept the Flames 7-0.

No. 13 Chris Rodesch faced some early adversity, dropping the first set of his singles match against Liberty's Nicaise Muamba, 3-6. Rodesch bounced back and completed the comeback, winning the second set 6-3, and the third set, 6-4.

The rest of the Cavaliers picked up victories in straight sets. No. 52 Inaki Montes won 6-3, 6-0, No. 71 Bar Botzer won 6-4, 6-3, No. 66 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg won 6-2, 6-3, No. 27 Ryan Goetz won 6-2, 6-4, and Gianni Ross won 6-0, 6-1.

UVA was also 3-0 in the doubles matches, with Rodesch and William Woodall winning 6-3, Montes and Goetz winning 6-4, and Botzer and von der Schulenburg winning 6-3.

Saturday: No. 7 Virginia 7, Richmond 0

The Cavaliers were challenged a little more by Richmond on Saturday. Both Bar Botzer and Gianni Ross lost the first sets of their matches 4-6. Botzer rebounded and defeated Daniel Kliebhan 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, while Ross defeated John Walsh 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. Alexander Kiefer won his match in straight sets, but needed to win a 7-2 tiebreaker to take down Sebastian Miano 6-1, 7-6.

Jeffrey von der Schulenburg dropped just won game in his straight-set victory and William Woodall and Jackson Allen both won their matches 6-1, 6-1.

In doubles play, Rodesch and Woodall won their match 6-1, as did Botzer and Allen. Inaki Montes and Alexander Kiefer completed the doubles sweep with a 6-3 win.

Sunday: No. 7 Virginia 6, No. 20 Harvard 1

In the final match of the weekend, Virginia hosted No. 20 Harvard in a showdown that featured three singles matches between ranked opponents.

In perhaps the most impressive victory of the weekend, No. 52 Inaki Montes took down Harvard's No. 17 Henry von der Schulenburg, the older brother of Virginia's Jeffrey von der Schulenburg, in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

In another ranked matchup, No. 13 Chris Rodesch lost the first set to No. 108 Harris Walker and the second set went to a 6-6 tiebreaker. Rodesch won the tiebreaker 7-4 and then took the deciding third set 6-4 to clinch the victory.

The only loss of the weekend for the Cavaliers was No. 57 Brian Shi over No. 71 Bar Botzer in another three-set thriller, as Shi prevailed 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 to pick up the win for Harvard.

Jeffrey von der Schulenburg, Ryan Goetz, and Jackson Allen won their matches in straight sets.

Virginia also won two out of three of the doubles matches. Rodesch and Woodall fell in their match 5-7, but Montes and Goetz won 6-4 and Botzer and von der Schulenburg won 6-3 to capture the doubles point.

Next weekend, Virginia hosts the ITA Kickoff Weekend with participating schools Georgia Tech, Middle Tennessee State, and Ball State all competing to secure a bid to the ITA National Indoor Championships (Feb. 18-21 in Seattle). On Saturday, Virginia will play Ball State and Georgia Tech will face MTSU , with the winners set to meet on Sunday.

Friday: No. 7 Virginia 7, Liberty 0

Saturday: No. 7 Virginia 7, Richmond 0

Sunday: No. 7 Virginia 6, No. 20 Harvard 1

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