Freshman Rafael Jódar fired his second serve, the game tied at 40. There was some spin on it — just enough to pull the opponent, the No. 3-ranked singles player in the nation, off his spot and give Jódar the advantage he needed. A quick rally ensued before Jódar put the ball away, pumped his fist and celebrated his win with a triumphant shout.
No. 5 Virginia’s match against No. 1 Texas was now tied. It all came down to Court 6 and freshman Stiles Brockett.
Minutes later, Brockett delivered — a big serve and a forehand to follow it up was all it took. His 6-3 win in the third set punctuated the Cavaliers’ (5-1, 0-0 ACC) comeback win at home over the stacked Longhorns (6-1, 0-0 SEC), exemplifying the grit and toughness for which this Virginia program is known.
“[The team] came out and believed,” Coach Andres Pedroso said. “It didn’t look great at the beginning, and guys just hung in there. This program has always prided itself in doing that.”
Coming off of a competitive but ultimately difficult loss Friday to No. 3 Ohio State, the Cavaliers entered the match hoping for a win. Two weeks from now, Virginia will head to Dallas for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, and the Longhorns will be there, too.
Like the Buckeyes (5-1, 0-0 Big 10) did less than two days prior, Texas took the doubles point quickly, winning two sets before the Cavaliers could win one. The duo of graduate student James Hopper, who had missed Friday’s game, and junior Ty Switzer lost 6-2, then sophomore Dylan Dietrich and junior Mans Dahlberg lost a tight matchup 7-5. The freshman duo of Jódar and Jangjun Kim was tied at 5-5 when the Longhorns clinched the doubles point.
“I told [the team] that in a college tennis season, you need to come back from losing the doubles point,” Pedroso said. “‘Why not now? Why not now?’ That’s what I told them after the doubles point. And they responded.”
Virginia, again like in Friday’s match, opened singles scoring. Kim played some incredible tennis en route to a 6-3, 6-3 win on Court 5. Dahlberg lost on Court 4, then Hopper followed suit on Court 5. The Cavaliers were trailing 3-1 — Texas needed one more point to take home a win and serve Virginia its second ranked loss in 48 hours.
Both Dietrich and Brockett won competitive second sets to keep the match alive after losing the first set. The Longhorns won five of six first sets — many in quick fashion — and it looked like their match to lose.
Jódar, making his debut on Court 1, saved the day. He had lost the first set 6-3, and he took the second one to a tiebreak, trailing by one point, needing three in a row to keep Virginia’s hopes alive.
He got them. His heroics and clutch play kept the Cavaliers in the match. Virginia still trailed in points, but Courts 1, 2 and 6 remained unresolved, with momentum in hand.
Dietrich earned the Cavaliers’ second point. In the final set he won all six of his service games. In the last game, serving, up 6-5 and leading 40-15, he lost two straight points but won the last point in clutch fashion to leave Virginia’s hopes in the hands of the two freshmen. Big serves and the ability to put points away from seemingly any position were, again, the difference maker for the Swiss star, as he took down the No. 2 singles player in the country in junior Sebastian Gorzny.
Jódar and Brockett both got off to strong starts, leading 4-2 in their third sets. Jódar took home his clutch win, displaying incredible consistency and strong offensive play all day, before Brockett did what it took to send the Longhorns home empty-handed and extend the Cavaliers’ win streak against Texas to nine matches.
Notably, Virginia was still missing one of its top players in freshman Keegan Rice. Given the circumstances, a win over the top-ranked team in the nation with a major tournament around the corner is an incredible result and bodes well as the team begins preparation for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
Before that, however, the team will travel to take on Georgia Friday. The Bulldogs (2-3, 0-0 SEC) are on a three-match losing streak, having just been defeated by No. 4 Wake Forest.
Read More
Women's basketball comes back from 14-point deficit to defeat Syracuse
By Victoria Blankenship | 9 hours agoVirginia left its fourth quarter woes in the rearview mirror en route to a clutch win.
Women’s golf sputters to rocky third-place finish in Mexico
By Casey Reims | 9 hours agoVirginia entered as a slight favorite but failed to string together birdies.
No. 5 women’s tennis falls to No. 7 Michigan, ending undefeated run
By Gracie Genereux | YesterdayAn early lead folded, and after six straight wins, Virginia suffered its first loss.
