hokies fall to rival cavaliers, 6-1

Amber Williams

April 2, 2021

Virginia Tech (9-7, 5-5 ACC) was knocked down by No. 4 Virginia (16-2, 10-0 ACC) 6-1 on Thursday in Charlottesville, Va.

The Hokies dropped the doubles point, with Ryan Kros and Carlo Donato falling first, 6-2, on court three. Tech tied things up with No. 35 duo Jordan Chrysostom and Ryan Fishback defeating the No. 4 pair of Carl Soderlund and William Woodall 6-2. Ultimately, UVA stole the match lead, winning 6-4 in the lone remaining doubles battle.

The Cavaliers held their lead after wrapping up the first match of singles play with Inaki Montes of UVA overpowering Hokie Hugo Maia 6-1, 6-2. Tech answered by picking up its only point of the day with a win from Fishback over No. 83 Ryan Goetz 6-2, 6-2.

Virginia swept the rest of the matches, boasting ranked players on three of the remaining four courts still in action. Mitch Harper for Tech was downed by No. 6 Carl Soderlund 6-3, 6-3. Alvaro Ariza took a loss of 6-2, 6-4 against Cavalier Gianni Ross.

The Hokies didn’t go down without a fight, however. Even though UVA had already clinched the match with the score at 4-1, Tech forced the final two matches into three sets.

Matthis Ross, who is currently ranked No. 86, won his second set after dropping the first to No. 14 Jeffery Von Der Schulenburg. Schulenburg walked away with the win for the Cavaliers after claiming the final set.

In the final match of the day, Donato for the Hokies conceded to No. 118 Chris Rodesch.

Tech will face another in-state team on April 7 when it takes on the VCU in Richmond, Va.