The Virginia men’s tennis team won the 2026 NCAA championship by defeating Texas 4-3 on May 17 at the Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. The Cavaliers, seeded fourth, secured their seventh NCAA title in program history after a close contest against the second-seeded Longhorns.
This victory marks Virginia’s first national title since repeating as champions in 2023 and brings their total to the fourth-most team titles in NCAA men’s tennis. The Cavaliers reached the finals for the ninth time in the last fifteen championships.
Virginia began its championship run by hosting both regional rounds at home, winning matches against Rider, Columbia, and South Carolina before traveling to Athens for the final rounds. After a quarterfinal win over Mississippi State and a semifinal comeback against Wake Forest, Virginia faced Texas in a tightly contested final. Junior Dylan Dietrich clinched the decisive point with a three-set win over Sebastian Gorzny on court one.
Head coach Andres Pedroso said after the match: “Incredible week here in Athens. Just an amazing tournament. As I said after the match, it is a magical place to play college tennis with the best teams in the country. Thank you to the University of Georgia and the NCAA and everyone that worked so hard to put it together. I’m really proud of my team. These guys have come a long way this year… What you saw out there today is an accumulation of all those moments and all of those conversations and all of those interactions that we had with one another. That’s our culture out there, just a never say die attitude.”
Pedroso also spoke about his approach during tense moments: “I was telling him, let’s see the culture. Show me the culture… Give everything you can to Dylan [Dietrich]. Show how much you love him… Show me that you’ve got his back no matter what.” On Virginia’s tradition he added: “I think some of it is the winning tradition that we can draw from… There’s just so many stories, so many former players that I talk to them about all the time… We take pride in that.”
Dietrich reflected on mental toughness during his deciding match: “There was lots of ups and downs in today’s match. I think today it was more important than ever to stay focused on what you can influence… Just hang in there and believe that work you’ve done over past year will pay off…” He added about his experience: “It’s not about tennis… It’s just about giving yourself best chance by hanging in there mentally…”
After going undefeated through five matches during this tournament run—including clinching victories—Dietrich was named Tournament MVP alongside teammates Keegan Rice and Jangjun Kim who made All-Tournament Team for singles play.
