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12 CAVALIER CORNER BY MELISSA DUDEK " W e're so excited to bring this trophy back home!" Andres Pedroso stood on court one with his back to the net, a microphone in his hand, speaking to the crowd packed into the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Ill., a few moments after the Cavaliers had captured their fifth NCAA title in the last decade. Pedroso had stood on that same court in 2013 as an associate head coach when the Cavaliers won their first championship. This time, he was the one at the microphone. "I'm just so grateful," he said to the press a few minutes later. "[Winning the title] was definitely in the back of our minds. We're always thinking national championship at some point, but I didn't know if it was going to happen this year or Year 7 or Year 9." No one in the tennis world thought it would be this year, especially in mid- February. The Cavaliers started the indoor season strong, earning a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a pair of 4-0 victories that put their season record at 5-0, but things took a turn. The Cava- liers played three straight non-conference matches ahead of the winter tournament against teams that would be ranked No. 1 at some point during the season: Ohio State, Baylor and TCU. UVA lost all three matches. Then, in the winter tournament, the Cava- liers lost to TCU again and fell to reigning NCAA champion Florida, which also was ranked No. 1 during the season. Virginia had a 5-5 record and fell out of the top 10, all the way down to No. 18. The Cavaliers' road to recovery began with a tough road trip to the Carolinas to open conference play. They dispatched Duke and UNC, with confidence growing along the way. In late March, a dominant 4-1 victory against No. 8 Wake Forest put the Cavaliers in the driver's seat for picking up the team's 15th ACC regular-season title, a feat they accomplished with a 7-0 sweep against Boston College at home on Senior Day. Virginia roared into the ACC Championship final but had a battle on its hands against Carolina. The Tar Heels won the doubles point and took four of six first sets in singles, but Virginia rallied to win the title and the ACC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. "We had a tough February, losing five matches in a row to top-five teams, but we learned a lot from it," Pedroso said. "And the guys responded, and you saw that in the ACC season. They were super professional. "They just keep evolving, keep growing, and keep working hard together, and that's what this team does when we're playing together." With its streak of 17 straight wins and its ACC regular-season and tournament titles, Virginia landed one of the coveted top-eight seeds in the NCAA Championship, giving them the right to host the first three rounds of the tournament in a regional and super regional. Taking Their FiFTh UVA Men's Tennis Adds Another National Championship To Its Trophy Case The Cavaliers won 23 straight matches to go from a 5-5 team to national champions, defeating opponents by a combined score of 25-1 in their six NCAA Tournament matches. (Photo by Matt Riley/courtesy UVA)