After a difficult road loss Friday to No. 15 Duke, No. 5 Virginia returned to action against North Carolina ready to right the ship and return to its winning ways. Still missing one of their best players in sophomore Dylan Dietrich, Coach Andres Pedroso’s side was forced to adjust its doubles and singles lineup but showcased its depth in resounding fashion.
With two new doubles pairings and multiple players playing up in singles, the Cavaliers (9-3, 1-1 ACC) trounced the Tar Heels (7-4, 1-1 ACC) 6-1, with graduate student James Hopper winning the 100th singles match of his collegiate career.
Because of Dietrich’s absence, Virginia was forced to modify its doubles pairing and singles court order. The team’s top pairing of Hopper and freshman Keegan Rice remained intact, but the duo of freshmen Rafael Jódar and Jangjun Kim was split, with the former joining junior Måns Dahlberg on Court 3 and the latter partnering with junior Ty Switzer.
The new pairings worked well, and the Cavaliers took the doubles point with wins on Courts 1 and 2. The Rice-Hopper pairing was as strong as always, with dominant net play and strong service taking them to a 6-4 win. Both new partnerships also looked strong — Kim and Switzer were the first to finish, showing strong teamwork and complementary play on their way to a 6-3 win. Jódar and Dahlberg left no room for error for their opponents, playing decisive and suffocating tennis from the baseline, leading 5-4 when doubles was called.
Leading 1-0 gave Virginia, which lost the doubles point Friday, a strong cushion for its modified singles lineup — Rice on Court 2 for the first time this season, Kim on Court 4 for the second time, Dahlberg on 5 and freshman Roy Horovitz, who made his debut Friday, on Court 6.
Like in doubles, the new lineup worked like a charm. Dahlberg, now 5-2 on Court 5, scored the Cavaliers’ second point of the match, winning 6-2, 6-2. The Swedish junior had a rocky start to the season but is quietly stringing together some positive play on the lower courts, winning four of his last six.
The Tar Heels then scored their first point, defeating Rice in straight sets on Court 2. Rice has had an impressive start to the season but was clearly playing up and spent much of the match on the back foot.
In another straight-set victory, Jódar then scored Virginia’s third point. Winning 6-3, 6-0 on Court 1, Jódar has looked dominant to start the season. He is now 5-0 on Court 1, having lost only one singles match all year.
The clinching point for the Cavaliers came on Court 6. In his second match for the team, Horovitz shined, winning 6-2, 6-3. With much anticipation surrounding the heralded recruit’s entrance into the lineup, a statement win will certainly place him in contention with freshman Stiles Brockett for a spot in the rotation.
The two teams then opted to play out the remaining matches. Kim quickly wrapped up a 6-4, 7-6 win on Court 4 against freshman and No. 114 singles player Anthony Wright.
After a drawn-out 14-12 tiebreak in which he saved seven match points, Hopper then closed out play for the afternoon with a win over the No. 113 singles player, freshman Chris Xu. The win marked the 100th singles victory of Hopper’s six-year college career.
As has been the case throughout the season, Virginia’s top courts and lower courts looked incredible, while the middle two struggled. Jódar — now No. 17 in the nation — is looking every part of a superstar, and Dietrich’s absence was felt with losses on Courts 2 and 3 with Rice and Hopper playing up.
The sheer depth of players who can succeed on the lower courts is astounding. Dahlberg, Kim, Horovitz and Brockett have all found success on Courts 5 and 6. One might imagine that Rice and Hopper would both shine there as well — Rice has not played there but Hopper is undefeated on Court 5 this season. At some point, as the season progresses, somebody will have to step up so that the team can consistently score points on Courts 3 and 4.
That will be tested against a strong pair of opponents next weekend. Virginia will host No. 10 NC State Friday and No. 1 Wake Forest Sunday. The Cavaliers defeated the Wolfpack (10-4, 2-0 ACC) in the consolation game for the ITA Team Indoor Championships, with both teams having lost in the quarterfinals. Conversely, the Demon Deacons (18-0, 2-0 ACC) won the entire tournament, possessing a very experienced and talented team that looks to be a frontrunner for conference and even national silverware later in the year.
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