Since securing the title in 2013, the Cavaliers have been crowned NCAA champions four more times: in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2022. Nothing, though, has rivaled the 2013 championship for drama.
The Cavaliers, whose captains that season were Jenkins and Julen Uriguen, both seniors, came into the final with a 29-0 record. Victories at No. 1 doubles (Jenkins and Styslinger) and No. 3 doubles (Justin Shane and Julen Uriguen) put the Hoos up 1-0 on UCLA, and Jenkins and Justin Shane won in the singles, too. But the Bruins collected three singles victories to tie the match at 3-3.
It all came down to No. 3 singles, where Frank dropped the first set to Adrian Puget, 6-0. Frank, a sophomore renowned for his work ethic, rallied to win the second set, 6-4, but trailed 5-3 in the third and, with Puget serving at 40-30, faced match point.
“We all have memories of that year, just traveling together,” Ryan Shane said, “but one point will always stick out to all of us.”
That point initially appeared to go Puget’s way, which would have clinched the championship for the Bruins. But the chair umpire ruled Puget had touched the net with his foot, and the point went to Frank.
“You can see us on the sideline go from thinking it’s over to just an absolute roar of energy,” Ryan Shane said.
Scott Brown, now UVA’s associate head coach, was a volunteer assistant on the 2013 team, and he and Pedroso were on one side of the court when Frank hit a lob that went wide and appeared to seal UCLA’s victory.
“Scott and I kind of looked at each other with this look, saying, ‘I cannot believe we’re going to lose in an another NCAA final,’ ” Pedroso said.
The umpire’s call gave Frank a reprieve, however, and he won the game to cut Puget’s lead to 5-4. During the changeover that followed, Pedroso said, Boland asked him to talk to Frank.
“I hadn’t been on Mitchell’s court the entire match, so as I’m walking over to him I’m like, ‘What am I going to say to this kid at 5-4 in the third when I haven’t been on his court at all?,’ ” Pedroso said. “So I went over there and I just talked about the many nights that he was out on the Snyder courts, training with the lights on, and all the hours and everything that he had put into preparing for a moment like this. The idea was just to give him confidence. There’s very few players who could have gotten us out of that moment, and Mitchell is definitely one that had put in the work in order to…