The second round of the NCAA tournament was the end of the road for No. 21 Stanford men’s tennis (11-6, 6-1 Pac-12). No. 5 Virginia (23-2, 12-0 ACC) took control of the match in singles play to continue its title search and send the Cardinal back to the Farm in a 4-2 defeat.

Despite the mismatch suggested by the team’s rankings, the Cardinal made it clear early on that they were up for the challenge. Senior Axel Geller and junior Tomas Kopczynski fell 6-3 in the first doubles set as Stanford’s No. 1 pair, but the team bounced back with doubles wins from freshman Tristan Boyer and senior Timothy Sah on court two and freshman Arthury Fery and junior Alexandre Rotsaert on court three to earn the doubles point and a 1-0. Both wins were secured with a 6-4 result. 

Unfortunately for the Cardinal, their dominance in doubles play did not translate well to singles action. Sah, Rotsaert and sophomore Neel Rajesh fell in succession on courts five, four and six, respectively, as the Cavaliers pulled ahead to a 3-1 lead. 

Fery interrupted Virginia’s streak and closed the score to 3-2 in Virginia’s favor with an upset, come-from-behind victory on court two, where he took down No. 44 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg in three sets, 4-6, 6-3 and 7-5. However, Fery’s efforts were not enough to completely diminish the Cavaliers’ momentum, and Chris Rodesch provided the clinching point on court three with a victory over Boyer. Boyer was reluctant to relinquish the point and fought to a tight 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) finish against Rodesch.

The loss closes out the season and Stanford’s 13th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.