No. 13 Blue Devils Fall on the Road at No. 12 Virginia

Sunday, March 19

Charlottesville, Va.

2:30 p.m.

Duke University

[12] Virginia

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 13 Blue Devils Fall on the Road at No. 12 Virginia

3/19/2023 6:33:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 13th-ranked Duke men's tennis team had their five-match winning streak snapped on Sunday as the Blue Devils dropped a 7-0 decision on the road to 12th-ranked Virginia at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.

The Blue Devils fell to 11-5, 4-1 in the ACC, while the Cavaliers moved to 14-4, 6-0 in the ACC.

How It Happened
•   For the second straight match, the Blue Devils had to try to come-from-behind as Duke dropped the doubles point to the Cavaliers.
•   On court one, Virginia's Inaki Montest de la Torre and Ryan Goetz got off to a hot start and registered a 6-1 victory over Duke's 59th-ranked Andrew Zhang and Michael Heller.
•   With both courts two and three all even at 4-4, Virginia was able to secure a 5-4 advantage after winning key deuce points in both matches.
•   On court three, Alexander Kiefer and Jeffrey von der Schulenburg of Virginia registered another key deuce point win to secure the doubles point for the Cavaliers with a 6-4 win over Connor Krug and Teddy Truwit.
•   When the doubles point was clinched, Duke's duo of No. 71 ranked Garrett Johns and Pedro Rodenas were trailing, 5-4, but were leading 40-0 to Chris Rodesch and William Woodall.
•   Virginia came out in singles and kept the momentum from doubles by winning the first set on all six courts. That included two key tiebreakers on courts five and six.
•   No. 37 Montes registered a 6-2, 6-0 win on court two over Duke's Zhang to move the score to 2-0.
•   Duke's Dale and Heller had tight first sets on courts five and six, respectively, that came down to a tiebreaker. On court five, Heller dropped the tiebreaker to Mans Dahlberg, 7-3, and ended up falling, 6-2, in the second set to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead.
•   Virginia clinched the victory on court six as Kiefer won the first set tiebreaker, 7-1, and then eventually won the second set, 6-4.
•   The final three singles matches came down to third-sets to decide the outcome.
•   No. 32 Schulenburg registered a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win on court three over Duke's Rodenas, while No. 111 Goetz posted a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 victory over Krug on court four.
•   On court one, a top-25 battle between Duke's 12th-ranked Johns and 25th-ranked Rodesch closed the match with Rodesch totaling a 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3 win.

Notes
•   The Blue Devils are now 4-2 on the road this year.
•   Duke dropped the doubles point for only the fifth time this season out of its first 16 matches.
•   Rodenas and Dale had their singles winning streaks come to an end as Rodenas had a five-match streak, while Dale had won eight straight contests. Heller also had won four straight matches.
•   The series with Virginia now moves to 52-45 in favor of the Blue Devils, but the Cavaliers have won four consecutive matches.

Quotes
"Obviously a tough one for us today. Credit Virginia for playing extremely well and pulling out the tight matches. They were the better team today. I do not think the scoreline was reflective of the good things that we did today, and how close the match was. I am proud of how we competed. We know we have work to do, and this group will put their heads back down next week and keep getting better." -- Duke head coach Ramsey Smith

Next Match
Duke will remain on the road next weekend as the Blue Devils travel to Clemson on Friday, March 24 followed by a contest at Georgia Tech on Sunday, March 26. The match against the Tigers will open at 5 p.m., while the Blue Devils will face the Yellow Jackets at 12 p.m.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's tennis, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMTEN".

#GoDuke

Results
Doubles (1,3*)
1. Inaki Montes de la Torre/Ryan Goetz (UVA) def. #59 Andrew Zhang/Michael Heller (DU) 6-1
2. #71 Garrett Johns/Pedro Rodenas (DU) vs. Chris Rodesch/William Woodall (UVA) 4-5, unfinished
3. Alexander Kiefer/Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (UVA) def. Connor Krug/Teddy Truwit (DU) 6-4

Singles (2,5,6*,3,4,1)
1. #25 Chris Rodesch (UVA) def. #12 Garrett Johns (DU) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3
2. #37 Inaki Montes de la Torre (UVA) def. Andrew Zhang (DU) 6-2, 6-0
3. #32 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg (UVA) def. Pedro Rodenas (DU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
4. #111 Ryan Goetz (UVA) def. Connor Krug (DU) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2
5. Mans Dahlberg (UVA) def. Andrew Dale (DU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
6. Alexander Kiefer (UVA) def. Michael Heller (DU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4