CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 3 Virginia men’s tennis team (11-4, 3-0 ACC) won 4-2 against North Carolina (8-4, 2-1 ACC) on Friday (March 8) at the Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina won the doubles point, but Virginia picked up four singles victories to down the Tar Heels. Senior Alexander Kiefer won the clinching point for the Cavaliers.
Senior Iñaki Montes and freshman Dylan Dietrich opened the match with a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles, but the Tar Heels countered with a 6-2 win on the top court. The deciding court went to a tiebreaker with UNC winning it 7-4 to take the match’s early 1-0 lead.
Senior Chris Rodesch tied the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1 against Will Jansen, but UNC retook the lead a minute later with a win on court four. Montes tied it up 2-2 with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court two.
Kiefer, who had dropped his first set 6-3 against Will Peters on court five, won his second set 6-2 to force a third set just as freshman Dylan Dietrich started a tiebreaker to decide his second set. Dietrich took the breaker 7-5 against Phillip Jordan, giving him the match and putting UVA ahead 3-2.
Kiefer sailed through his third set 6-0 to secure the victory.
FROM HEAD COACH ANDRES PEDROSO
“Another good mental win for our team today. I’ve said before and I will say it again, when it comes down to Alex Kiefer, I’m feeling really good as a head coach and I know his teammates feel the same way. Tonight was another very strong competitive effort from our Wahoos. This team fights literally no matter what, come what may. Makes me so proud.”
MATCH NOTES
- The Tar Heels are ranked No. 30 in this week’s ITA team ranking
- Virginia has won 44 consecutive conference matches. Their last ACC loss was against Wake Forest on March 17, 2019
- Virginia has not lost an outdoor match since falling against USC in the Round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Championship (5/17/21)
ON THE HORIZON
- The Cavaliers close the weekend playing at No. 15 Duke on Sunday, March 10 at 2 p.m.