Virginia men's tennis traveled to Blacksburg on Wednesday to take on Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash. The second-place Cavaliers (17-4, 9-0, ACC) remain undefeated in conference play with a 6-1 win against the Hokies (9-8, 2-7, ACC). The loss resulted in a victory and extended the winning streak. The winning streak is now 9 games.
The doubles match began at 3 p.m., and Virginia got off to a strong start, with senior Chris Rodesch and graduate student Edoardo Graziani winning 6-3 on court three. However, Virginia Tech fought back, defeating senior Jeffrey von der Schulenberg and freshman Dylan Dietrich 4-6 on Court 2, tying the doubles score.
The doubles point was taken to the top court, where graduate student James Hopper and senior Iñaki Montes de la Torre, a duo currently ranked No. 6 in the nation, faced off against senior Ryan Fishbach and junior Iñaki Montes de la Torre. He played against Maxime Saint Hilaire. Hopper and Montez managed to pull off a 6-4 victory, giving the Cavaliers their first (and certainly not their last) points of the game.
With the score now 1-0, single play began on the court. Senior Alexander Kiefer had an outstanding performance, winning his match on Court 5 in two consecutive sets. Kiefer finished the match before the rest of the court finished the first set, winning 6-1, 6-1 and giving Virginia its second point.
Rodesh was next to score, also winning in straight sets and keeping Virginia Tech off the scoreboard with a 6-3, 6-3 top court victory. Rodesh is currently ranked No. 6 nationally, and his performance Wednesday proved he is worthy of that position.
Like other conference matchups in the past, the remaining single-court matchups were close and could have gone either way. On Courts 2, 3, and 6, the Hokies won the first set, meaning the Cavaliers needed to win the second set to have a chance at scoring points.
On Court 3, Dietrich won the second set 7-5 and a decisive third set. In the third set, Dietrich defied a close match and dominated with a 6-2 victory to seal the victory and bring the overall score to 4-0.
Schulenburg finished with his own victory just minutes after Dietrich, bouncing back from a 4-6 deficit in the first set to win 6-1 and 6-4 on Court 2 to bring the score to 5-0. . Sophomore Mance Dahlberg outscored his opponent 11-9 in the first set, then won the second-set tiebreak 8-6 to push Virginia's lead to 6-0 in the fourth. Won the match on the court.
Graziani's match on Court 6 finished last and was as nail-biting as any other singles match. After dropping the first set 4-6, Graziani rallied to win the second set 6-4. In the end, the tie-break set needed its own tie-break. After going back and forth for most of the matchup, Graziani lost 9-11 to his junior, Alberto Olso, in the final set, giving the Cavaliers a 6-1 final score in the Commonwealth Clash.
Coach Andres Pedroso happily reflected on his team's performance and contributions to Virginia's side in the in-state rivalry with Virginia Tech, noting the challenges of playing in the chilly Blacksburg climate. .
“I'm really proud of this team. The conditions were tough today,” Pedroso said. “It was cold and windy, but I felt the players responded really well. There were some spots where we fell into a hole, but they just had patience with themselves and worked through the situation. I just found a way.”
Even though Graziani was the only Virginia player to lose a game on Wednesday, Pedroso specifically highlighted his performance.
“I'm really proud of Eddie Graziani's performance at the end,” Pedroso said. “The way our team cheered him on showed that our culture is really strong and it was a really positive moment for our program.”
Virginia returns home to host Boston College at noon Sunday for another conference match and the team's Senior Day. Virginia will be confident in its chances this weekend, as the Eagles have yet to win an ACC game and the Cavaliers have yet to lose one.
