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Virginia
No. 3 Men’s Tennis edged by No. 1 Virginia, 4-3
01.18.2024 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns extended to the third set of the finals singles match, but fell to the Cavaliers, 4-3, at the Texas Tennis Center.
Austin – No. 3 Texas Men's Tennis took it to the third set of the final singles match, but was edged by No. 1 Virginia, 4-3, at the Texas Tennis Center on Thursday night.
The Cavaliers claimed the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3, and although Texas was able to collect three singles wins by senior No. 2 Micah Braswell at No. 2, junior No. 49 Pierre-Yves Bailly at No. 4, and freshman Gilles-Arnaud Bailly at No. 3, Virginia secured wins at Nos. 1, 6 and 5.
After the Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead with the doubles point, Pierre-Yves Bailly was the first off the court in singles with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Edoardo Graziani at No. 4 to even the overall score. In both sets, Bailly jumped established 4-0 leads, including a deuce-point break to open the match. Graziani picked up a win in the fifth game of the first set with a hold, but Bailly set out on a 7-0 run that established a 5-0 lead in the second. After Graziani held for 5-1, Bailly closed out the match with a deuce point hold.
Virginia regained the lead, 2-1, after senior No. 1 Eliot Spizzirri fell to No. 22 Chris Rodesch, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 1. Both players held their serves through the first three games, with Rodesch's first two serves being decided by deuce points, which he managed to hold. Rodesch was able to break the fourth game and then hold for a 4-1 advantage that he maintained with both players holding serve for the remainder of the set. In the second set, Rodesch took an early 2-0 lead with a break and a hold, but Spizzirri with a 3-0 run. However, Rodesch was able to close out from there with a 4-0 run to the win.
With Virginia leading, 2-1, Micah Braswell amped up the Longhorn crowd with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 26 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg to even the score again. Braswell broke on a deuce point in the fourth game for a 3-1 advantage, but von der Schulenburg would break back in the following game to make the score 3-2. Braswell responded by breaking once again, and holding in the following game for a 5-2 lead. von der Schulenburg would go on to take the next two games, but Braswell closed the first set with another break. In the second set, each player held through the first seven games before Braswell broke for a 5-3 advantage on his way to a 6-3 win.
The match continued to go back and forth as the Cavaliers again took the lead when sophomore No. 28 Jonah Braswell came up short to Mans Dahlberg, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 6. In the first set, Dahlberg secured the only two breaks for 3-1 and to close at 6-3. Braswell would push Dahlberg in the second set, which saw four of the nine games decided at deuce point. After dropping the first two games, which came down to deuce point decisions, Braswell broke for 2-1. Dahlberg broke back by claiming yet another deuce point, and from then on both players held serve to the 6-3 finish.
With Texas down 3-2, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly would take down Dylan Dietrich 6-3, 7-6 (8) at No. 3 to tie the match once again. Bailly opened with a break to give him an early advantage and closed the set on another break for 6-3. Dietrich broke in the first game of the second set on a deuce point, but Bailly broke back later in the set to even the score at 4-4. Both players would hold their remaining serves, sending it to a tiebreaker. There, Bailly took an early 3-0 lead, and kept Dietrich at arm's length until Dietrich managed to tie it at 6-6 after holding off two match points for Bailly at 6-4 and 6-5. However, after it was tied, the last two points would belong to Bailly for the 8-6 win.
That left all attention at No. 5, which featured senior No. 101 Siem Woldeab and Alexander Kiefer, but Kiefer was able to emerge with a 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-2 win to give Virginia a 4-3 overall victory. Woldeab trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set, but rallied to even the match, 4-4. From there, the players held serve to the tiebreaker where it was Woldeab who jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage. Kiefer battled back with a 3-0 run of his own. Woldeab held on the next point to retake a 4-3 lead, but Kiefer would hold his next two serves giving him a 5-4 advantage. Woldeab then split his next two serves for a 6-5 lead for Kiefer, who claimed the set with a hold for 7-5. In the second set, the first five games stayed on serve, including deuce-point holds for Woldeab for 1-0 and 3-2. The second of those would begin a 4-0 run for Woldeab, capped by another deuce-point win for the set. In the third, it was Kiefer who opened with a 4-0 run, and although Woldeab fought back for the next two games, Kiefer was able to close from there for the win.
Earlier in doubles, the nation's No. 3 pair in seniors Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper were the first off the court with a dominating 6-0 win over Graziani and James Hopper at No. 1. The closest game in the match was the second, with Spizzirri and Harper breaking on a deuce point to set the tone early. Then, moments later, Pierre-Yves Bailly and Woldeab fell to Rodesch and von der Schulenburg, 6-4, at No. 2. The Texas tandem was able to get out to an early 3-1 lead before Virginia took the next four games. Bailly and Woldeab responded to the run by holding a deuce point to narrow Virginia's lead, 5-4, but Rodesch and von der Schulenburg would close out the match in the following game. With all eyes on court 3, Gilles-Arnaud Bailly and Micah Braswell battled it out against Dylan Dietrich and Alexander Kiefer for the doubles point, but with the score knotted at 5-5, Dietrich and Kiefer took the last two games to win, 7-5.
Up next, Texas will face UTSA on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT at the Texas Tennis Center as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend from Jan. 27-28.
#1 Virginia 4, #3 Texas 3
Singles - Order of Finish (4,1,2,6,3,5)
1. #22 Chris Rodesch (VA) def. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) 6-3, 6-3
2. #2 Micah Braswell (UT) def. #26 J vd Schulenburg (VA) 6-4, 6-3
3. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly (UT) def. Dylan Dietrich (VA) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
4. #49 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Edoardo Graziani (VA) 6-1, 6-1
5. Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. #101 Siem Woldeab (UT) 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 6-2
6. Mans Dahlberg (VA) def. #28 Jonah Braswell (UT) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles - Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #3 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) def. James Hopper/Edoardo Graziani (VA) 6-0
2. Chris Rodesch/J vd Schulenburg (VA) def. Pierre-Yves Bailly/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-4
3. Dylan Dietrich/Alexander Kiefer (VA) def. Gilles-Arnaud Bailly/Micah Braswell (UT) 7-5
Players Mentioned
