The Virginia men’s tennis team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship with a 4-2 win over Columbia on May 2 at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort.
The victory allows Virginia, currently ranked No. 5, to continue its postseason run and host South Carolina in the upcoming Super Regional scheduled for either Friday, May 8 or Saturday, May 9.
After dropping doubles court two, Virginia responded with a win on court one from Dylan Dietrich and Måns Dahlberg. The doubles point was decided on court three where Columbia secured a narrow victory. In singles play, Columbia extended its lead before Keegan Rice earned Virginia’s first point by defeating Nicolas Kotzen. Andres Santamarta Roig and Jangjun Kim both overcame first-set losses to win their matches in three sets, giving Virginia its first lead of the evening. Dietrich clinched the match for the Cavaliers after coming back from losing his first set in a tiebreaker.
Head coach Andres Pedroso said: “Just an incredible fight by the Columbia Lions. That team always fights. They are so well coached. We played them in the regional so many times, and they always give us a war. So congrats to that team on an amazing season.” Pedroso continued: “And I’m just really proud of this team. These guys just fight until the end. They’ve done it all season. We’ve been down many times this season, and these guys just don’t give up. So they always give themselves a chance. I am really proud of their fight ,and let’s keep it going.”
Virginia holds a No. 4 seed in this year’s tournament and is ranked No. 5 in ITA team rankings overall while holding a strong record against Columbia with seven wins out of eight meetings this season alone.
Looking ahead, Virginia will prepare to host South Carolina next weekend as they seek to advance further into NCAA competition.
