Virginia men’s tennis wins second consecutive NCAA Championship

After dominating the #1 seed Texas Longhorns in the semifinals yesterday, the Virginia Cavaliers men’s tennis team won its second consecutive NCAA Championship this afternoon by toppling the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes, 4-0.

Against Ohio State, Virginia won the doubles point with wins from the pairing of Chris Rodesch and Jeffrey von der Schulenberg (who won 6-2) and the duo of Inaki Montes and William Woodall (6-3). That left the ‘Hoos just three singles points away from clinching overall victory.

Von der Schulenberg made quick work of his singles match versus Ohio State’s JJ Tracy, winning the first set 6-2 and then the second 6-1. Rodesch followed his doubles partner’s example with a two-set win (6-4, 6-2). With that, the Cavaliers were up 3-0 and had four chances to clinch the championship.

Montes ended up winning the title clinching point by beating Cannon Kingsley in straight sets 6-4 and then 6-2.

UVA’s win against the Buckeyes comes after the Wahoos lost to Ohio State twice this year. The 4-0 final underscores just how good Virginia is in the month of May, even mirroring the team’s 4-0 win against Kentucky in the 2022 National Championship.

Rodesch, UVA’s top singles player, earned the MVP of this year’s NCAA Tournament. He also won the MVP of this season’s ACC Championship.

This is UVA’s sixth national title in the last 10 postseasons and is Head Coach Andres Pedroso’s second as he has now brought Virginia back to the top of the sport. It’s particularly impressive how Pedroso has carried the program forward following Brian Bowland’s departure in 2017.