Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications
No. 6 UVA Men's Tennis Sweeps Georgia Tech, Advances to ITA Indoor Championships
One day after the No. 9 UVA women's tennis team clinched a spot in next month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships, the No. 7 Virginia men's tennis team secured its own spot at the ITA Indoors. The Cavaliers swept Georgia Tech 4-0 on Sunday in the championship match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at Boar's Head Sports Club.
UVA got off to a strong start in doubles competition with a 6-2 victory for Inaki Montes and Ryan Goetz. Georgia Tech battled back, as Chen Dong and Angel Guerrero defeated Virginia's Bar Botzer and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg, 6-2. The Cavaliers clinched the doubles point on a 6-4 win by Chris Rodesch and William Woodall.
Gianni Ross kept the good start going for Virginia, taking down Angel Guerrero 6-2, 6-2. No. 66 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg followed that up with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Chen Dong to make it 3-0, bringing the Cavaliers within one win of clinching the match.
Virginia got that final point on the racket of No. 27 Ryan Goetz, who downed Pablo Schlecher 6-2, 6-2 to secure the victory for UVA.
Virginia may have swept Georgia Tech, but the singles competition at the top three courts was intense. At the time that Goetz finished his straight-set win to finish the match, the other three active matches were in the midst of heated second sets.
No. 71 Bar Botzer dropped his first set to Marcus McDaniel, 3-6, and the second set was tied at 4-4 when play was suspended. No. 52 Inaki Montes won the first set over Keshav Chopra 6-3 and the second set was even at four games apiece when Goetz clinched it for Virginia. Finally, No. 13 Chris Rodesch was facing No. 9 Andres Martin on court No. 1 in a showdown of top-ranked singles players. Martin took the first set 6-3, but Rodesch answered back and won the second set 6-3. Virginia clinched the victory before the third set began, robbing those in attendance of the opportunity to see Rodesch and Martin finish their match.
With the win, Virginia improves to 5-0 on the season and secures a bid to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held February 18-21 in Seattle, Washington. Both the UVA men's and women's tennis teams have qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2016.
Up next, Virginia plays a pair of non-conference road matches against ranked opponents. The Cavaliers play at No. 11 Kentucky on Friday and at No. 5 Ohio State on Sunday.
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