The Virginia men’s tennis team advanced to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship final after defeating Notre Dame 4-1 in the semifinals on April 18 at Cary Tennis Park.
With this victory, Virginia will face top-seeded Wake Forest in the championship match scheduled for Sunday, April 19 at 10 a.m. The final will be broadcast on ACCNX.
Notre Dame secured an early lead by winning the doubles point with victories on courts one and two. However, Virginia responded strongly in singles play, winning four consecutive matches in straight sets. Senior Måns Dahlberg tied the score with a win over Luis Llorens Saracho, followed by Jangjun Kim who gave Virginia its first lead of the match against Peter Nad. Dylan Dietrich then extended the advantage with a win over Sebastian Dominko on court one. Andres Santamarta Roig clinched the overall victory for Virginia by defeating Giuseppe Cerasuolo.
With this result, head coach Andres Pedroso reached his 200th career victory. The Cavaliers also recorded their second win of the season against Notre Dame; they previously won a regular-season matchup between these teams earlier in April. Dietrich has now won his last eleven completed matches and holds an 18-1 record this season, while Santamarta Roig improved to a record of 14-3 including eight wins out of ten appearances on court three.
Earlier this season, Virginia faced Wake Forest and lost 4-2 when playing away from home. The Cavaliers are aiming for their sixteenth ACC title as they enter Sunday’s championship match.
