Virginia Men's Tennis Beats Virginia Tech 6-1, Earns Point in Commonwealth Clash

Matt Newton | Apr 3, 2024

The Virginia men's tennis team celebrates after defeating Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash. / Virginia Athletics

That's another point for the Virginia Cavaliers in the Commonwealth Clash. The nation's No. 2-ranked Virginia men's tennis team (17-4, 9-0 ACC) defeated Virginia Tech (9-8, 2-7 ACC) by a 6-1 score on Wednesday evening in Blacksburg. The win gives the Cavaliers another point in the 2023-2024 Commonwealth Clash, which UVA now leads 9-6.

In doubles play, Virginia's team of Chris Rodesch and Edoardo Graziani defeated Virginia Tech's Hugo Maia and Manuel Gonclaves 6-3 on court 3, but the Hokies answered as Matt Harper and Alberto Orso knocked off Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and Dylan Dietrich 6-4 on court 2, leaving it up to court 1 to decide the doubles point. James Hopper and Inaki Montes outlasted Ryan Fishback and Maxime St. Hilaire 6-4 to clinch the doubles point for the Cavaliers.

Virginia then proceeded to win the first five singles matches to secure the victory, but it wasn't that easy at first, as three different Cavaliers dropped their first sets. Alexander Kiefer was the first to the finish, defeating Benjamin Pomeranets 6-1, 6-1 on court 5. Chris Rodesch notched a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ryan Fishback on the top court to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead.

After dropping the first set to Michael Shepheard on court 3, Dylan Dietrich rallied to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 to secure the match victory for Virginia. On court 2, Jeffrey von der Schulenburg also bounced back from a set 1 loss and defeated Maxime St. Hilaire 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Mans Dahlberg and Hugo Maia went the distance in each of their first two sets on court 4, with Dahlberg prevailing in the tiebreakers both times to win 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (8-6) to make it 6-0.

Court 6 was the final match to conclude, with Edoardo Graziani and Alberto Orso delivering an entertaining back-and-forth match that was decided by a third-set tiebreaker. Orso ultimately prevailed over Dahlberg 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (11-9) to give the Hokies their lone point of the match.

Virginia returns home to host Boston College on Sunday at 12pm at Boar's Head for Senior Day.