Men’s tennis set to play No. 4 Wake Forest in NCAA Quarterfinals

The fifth-seeded Virginia Cavaliers men’s tennis team (24-4) will take on reigning national champions and fourth-seeded Wake Forest (32-3) today at 12 PM in the NCAA Elite Eight at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.

The matchup will mark the fourth time the two teams have played each other in 2019. UVA captured the first contest in Charlottesville in early February over the then-ranked No. 1 Demon Deacons, 4-1, before dropping the following two meetings, including a 4-2 loss in the ACC Championship three weeks ago.

Leading up to today’s showdown, Wake made quick work of its opponents in their regional and super regional, downing Morgan State (5-0), No. 36 Kentucky (4-1) and No. 21 Oklahoma (4-1). Virginia similarly moved through its first two matches with relative ease, beating St. Johns (4-0) and No. 17 South Carolina (4-1), before battling past a twelfth-seeded Stanford team, 4-2.

The ACC Tournament final defeat to the Demon Deacons has been UVA’s only blemish in 13 tries, as the Hoos look to ride their momentum into a tenth NCAA semifinals appearance in the past 12 seasons. If they hope to move on, the Cavaliers should expect big performances from All-ACC players Carl Söderlund, Brandon Nakashima, and Henrik Wiersholm, who boast the three best singles dual-match records on the team.

Today’s winner will take on either top overall seed Ohio State (32-2) or No. 9 North Carolina (21-6) at 4 PM on Saturday. In the meantime, be sure to tune in to the action starting at noon on the USTA National Campus website here.