Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and his Virginia teammates eye another NCAA Tournament run. ~ Photo Courtesy Virginia Athletics Media Relations
The NCAA Division I Tennis Championships get underway this weekend. For the fourth consecutive year, both the men’s and women’s teams at Virginia will host first and second round matches to open the tournament.
Both programs won at least a share of the ACC Regular Season Championship before coming up short in the conference tournament final. While the men’s team is looking to capture its third straight NCAA title, something it accomplished in 2015-2017, the women’s team is hoping to win its first in program history.
The Virginia men’s tennis team finished 22-5 in the spring season. The Cavaliers went an undefeated 12-0 in ACC play during the regular season. In the conference tournament championship, Florida State upset Virginia, winning 4-3. UVA coach Andres Pedroso and his team still easily received an at-large bid and are ranked No. 3 entering the tournament.
NJIT, VCU, and Princeton will travel to Charlottesville this weekend for the first and second rounds of the men’s bracket. VCU and Princeton will square off first on Friday, May 3, at 1 p.m. Afterwards, the Cavaliers will take on NJIT at 4 p.m. The two winning teams will meet on Saturday at 4 p.m. for a chance to move on to the round of 16.
Virginia is led by a strong senior class of Alexander Kiefer, Iñaki Montes de la Torre, Chris Rodesch, and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg. During their four years at UVA, the Cavaliers did not lose a single regular season ACC match. 48-0. Rodesch and Montes finished First Team All-ACC in singles, and von der Schulenburg was Third Team. Those three and graduate student James Hopper also finished Third Team All-ACC in doubles.
While there is certainly a strong veteran presence on the team, freshman Dylan Dietrich had a very strong first season. The 6’5” Swissman was named ACC Freshman of the Year and a Second Team All-ACC selection. Competing as the No. 4 in the ACC Tournament, Dietrich went 3-0 and is 10-1 in his last 11 singles matches entering the NCAA Tournament.
Rodesch, Montes, and Dietrich also will compete in the NCAA singles tournament starting May 20. Von der Schulenburg is an alternate for the tournament.
With a stacked roster, Virginia has a great chance of making another deep tournament run and potentially competing for a third straight national title. Ohio State enters the tournament as the top seed. The Buckeyes beat Virginia twice in the regular season. Last season, Virginia beat Ohio State in the National Championship. It will certainly be an exciting matchup if these two teams meet again.
The women’s team finished the season 22-4 overall (12-1 in ACC), and enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed. After sharing the conference regular season title with North Carolina, Virginia fell to the Tar Heels in the ACC Championship 4-1.
This weekend, LIU, Princeton, and Washington will make the trip to UVA for the first two rounds of the women’s bracket. Princeton and Washington play at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 4, followed by Virginia and LIU at 1 p.m. The winners meet on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Entering the season as the No. 12 ranked team, the Cavaliers burst into the top 10 after an impressive 4-0 win against UNC in February. It began a 10-match winning streak for Virginia that ultimately ended the same way it started, against the Tar Heels. UNC enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed, so the two teams will meet again if both are able to reach the quarterfinals.
Primarily playing at the top of the lineup is sophomore Annabelle Xu, senior Hibah Shaikh, and graduate student Natasha Subhash. Xu finished 20-10 overall in singles matches, while Shaikh went 25-10 and Subhash was 24-9. Shaikh and Subhash partnered a strong doubles team that finished the season 23-5. Sara Ziodato, Elaine Chervinsky, and Melodie Collard all won 15+ singles matches this season as well.
The Cavaliers are hoping to capture their first ever National Championship. The ACC Regular Season title is the team’s first since 2014, showing promising signs entering the tournament. Virginia also went an impressive 10-4 against nationally ranked opponents this season. UVA coach Sara O’Leary is hoping her team can finally break through and grab that elusive national title.
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