The Virginia men’s tennis team played portions of its NCAA Tournament Super Regional match with Duke both indoors and outdoors, but eventually secured the 4-0 win to advance to the quarterfinals for the 16th time in the last 18 championships.
The Cavaliers have won 49 straight matches against ACC opponents. They also defeated the Blue Devils for the ACC Tournament Championship this season.
“Duke competed extremely well today,” Virginia coach Andres Pedroso said in a news release. “They gave us everything they had, and it was a challenge, which is what we thought it was going to be. I am really proud of our guys. We just stay composed with all the changes in surfaces and venues and facilities. Today was about composure, and we’re going to need a lot more of that in Orlando.”
After a lightning delay during warm-ups outdoors, the two teams played doubles on the indoor courts. The Hoos took a 1-0 lead with the doubles point thanks to wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Inaki Montes and William Woodall defeated Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas 6-3 in the top doubles spot, while Ryan Goetz and Alexander Kiefer prevailed 6-4 over Faris Khan and Niroop Vallabhaneni at No. 3.
As singles prepared to be played indoors as well, courts 4-6 were deemed unplayable due to condensation and court 2 eventually joined that list. At that point, the match moved back outdoors for the remainder of singles.
Chris Rodesch, who won his first set indoors, gave UVA a 2-0 lead with a win against Johns in No. 1 singles. He won 7-6 (7-2), 6-4. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg followed with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 win at No. 3 singles against Andrew Zhang. He also won his first set indoors. Mans Dahlberg clinched the team’s 4-0 win with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles.
The Hoos advanced to Orlando for the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals at the USTA National Campus with Saturday’s win. They will face Kentucky on Thursday. The Wildcats defeated the Cavaliers 4-3 in early February, but after losing 4-1 to Ohio State on Feb. 11, Virginia has won 19 straight matches.
Virginia Track & Field Success
The UVA track & field teams competed in the ACC Championships in Raleigh where the men captured third place and the women took fifth place. That gave one point each to Virginia and Virginia Tech in the annual Commonwealth Clash, which the Hoos had already clinched for the year. The final score in the standings was 12-9.
The Cavaliers brought home several gold medals from the meet.
Ethan Dabbs made history as he became the first conference competitor to ever win four ACC men’s javelin titles. He secured the four-peat with a 73.09-meter throw on his first attempt. He’s just the 12th men’s competitor to win four ACC titles in any event.
Owayne Owens added the triple jump crown with a mark of 16.61 meters, which matched his best outdoor distance. This is his second outdoor ACC triple jump title (he also has two indoors). Nate Mountain rounded out Friday’s champions with a personal-best 8:32.05 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. That’s the second fastest time in school history. He became the first UVA steeple champ on the men’s side since Kyle King in 2014.
On the women’s side, Margot Appleton continued a strong overall year with a win in the 1500 meters. She posted a time of 4:14.58 and became the second Cavalier in three years to win the event, joining Michaela Meyer from 2021. The Virginia 4×100 relay team also claimed gold. Kayla Bonnick, Jada Seaman, Jada Pierre, and Sarah Akpan sprinted to victory in 43.71 seconds to set a new school record. That gave UVA its first title in the event since 1995.
Other first-team All-ACC performances for the Hoos included Derek Johnson (2nd in steeplechase, 3rd in 5000), Esther Seeland (3rd in 1500), Ashley Anumba (2nd in discus), and Samantha Romano (3rd in pole vault). Second-team All-ACC honors went to John Fay (4th in hammer), Ethan Robinson (4th in decathlon), Yasin Sado (5th in steeplechase), Kenton Bachmann (5th in 800), Conor Murphy (6th in 1500, 6th in 800), Jack Eliason (4th in 5000), Hanne Borstlap (5th in pole vault), Jada Seaman (6th in long jump), Alix Still (5th in heptathlon), Jordan Hardy (6th in triple jump), Kayla Bonnick (5th in 100), and Sarah Akpan (8th in 100).
Fast Football
The Virginia football team finished spring practice in April, but receiver Demick Starling turned in an impressive time for the track and field team at the ACC Championships in Raleigh. He posted a 10.46 in the 100-meter dash, which stands as the third fastest time in school history. Check out his run here (second from the left):
Demick Starling just ran the third-fastest 100-meter dash in UVA history posting 10.46 #GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/uNlKIQ8cvU
— Virginia Track & Field and Cross Country (@UVATFCC) May 12, 2023
Starling posted the second highest kickoff return average in the ACC last season at 21.9 yards per return. Over his first three years with Virginia (two years of eligibility remaining), he has made 11 catches for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns. He will be competing for more time this fall as the Hoos’ receiving group takes on a new look.
Lucky No. 13
The Virginia women’s rowing program kept its impressive streak going at the ACC Championships. The Cavaliers won their 13th straight conference title with 95 points ahead of Syracuse (86) and Duke (83) in the top three. UVA has won 22 of the 23 ACC Championship regattas overall. Video highlights can be found in this news release.
Virginia won the second varsity eight (Coxswain: Janet Conklin, Stroke: Sophia Coppola, 7: Catherine Williams, 6: Lauren Orr, 5: Paige Loh, 4: Cillian Mullen, 3: Sarah Bradford, 2: Riley Richardson, Bow: Sky Dahl), the third varsity eight (Coxswain: Sarah Statler, Stroke: Izzie Bird, 7: Helene Dmitrijev, 6: Grace Lebo, 5: Teagan Orth, 4: Tahne Badenhorst, 3: Bianka Smeulders, 2: Brooke Alexander, Bow: Beatrice Jones), the varsity four (Coxswain: Nora Grabcheski, Stroke: Lauren Jochims, 3: Lauren Jochims, 2: Meagan Goldsmith, 2: Kate McGee; Bow: Addison Luce), and the second varsity four (Coxswain: Zoe Tekeian, Stroke: Katie Stephens, 3: Nel Straub, 2: Natalie Bailey; Bow: Izzie Begley). The all-conference teams featured Till, Brown, Conklin, and Van Ingen on the first team and Badenhorst on the second team.
The selection show for the NCAA Championships takes place on Tuesday.
More Virginia Notes
- UVA pitcher Brian Edgington received ACC Pitcher of the Week recognition after he tossed six scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts on Sunday. The Cavaliers swept the series with Louisville over the weekend to finish their regular season home schedule with a 32-4 record.
- Virginia sophomore Amanda Sambach has been named a finalist for the 2023 ANNIKA Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding female collegiate golfer. Sambach won the ACC Championship and was co-medalist at the NCAA Westfield Regional in recent competition.
- Men’s golfer Ben James has been named ACC Freshman of the Year. He is the fourth Hoo to win the award along with Jimmy Flippen (1992), Lewis Chitengwa (1995), and Denny McCarthy (2012).
