The Virginia men’s tennis team defeated Mississippi State by a score of 4-1 on May 14 at the Magill Tennis Complex, advancing to the semifinals of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship.
This win moves Virginia into an all-Atlantic Coast Conference semifinal matchup against Wake Forest on Saturday, May 16. The two teams have already faced each other twice this season.
Virginia secured an early lead with doubles victories from Andres Santamarta Roig and Jangjun Kim on court two, and Måns Dahlberg and Dylan Dietrich on court one. Although Mississippi State tied the match with a singles win, Keegan Rice restored Virginia’s advantage with a straight-set victory over Petar Jovanovic. Dietrich then defeated Benito Sanchez Martinez in another top-ranked singles matchup, before Santamarta Roig clinched the fourth point for Virginia in a close contest against Bryan Hernandez Cortes.
Head coach Andres Pedroso said, “Congrats to Mississippi State on an incredible season. Again, I said it at indoors, just an incredible culture they had. Their coaching staff does a great job of building those bonds and those friendships. You can just tell by the way they compete, so congrats to Mississippi State.” He continued about his own team: “Proud of my team. We fought until the end. We knew that they would bite back after the doubles point, and that’s exactly what they did, especially after the first sets. Our team just stayed composed and stayed calm and got the job done in the end. Especially good time here [Andrés Santamarta Roig] by the first year.” Reflecting on playing in Athens he added: “This was probably my most memorable experience as a player… This place has so much history… It gives you goose bumps, so this is the place.”
Freshman Andres Santamarta Roig said about his experience: “This semester in general has been amazing. My team, the coaches, the staff all are amazing… I think today we played three really good doubles matches and from what I saw of the singles we all fought until the last point… My match was tough, especially the second set at the end but I ended up winning.” On choosing college tennis he said: “After summer of last year… I decided to come to college, to this university because … it seemed like a really healthy place to be. I think I am improving a lot and creating strong relationships.”
Virginia is seeded fourth in this tournament and ranked fifth nationally by ITA rankings; this marks their thirteenth semifinal appearance in nineteen championships.
