arthur ashe leadership award
Alex Kiefer came into the University of Virginia as the “fourth freshman” alongside future All-Americans Chris Rodesch and Iñaki Montes (2022 ACC Player of the Year) and four-time All-ACC honoree and four-time NCAA Singles Championship participant Jeffrey von der Schulenburg. All three of those players made an immediate impact on the court, winning an ACC title their very first year. Kiefer went 4-4 in singles that year, making no appearances in the ACC or NCAA matches. He came into UVA as a Blue Chip Recruit, ranked in the top-10 of the recruiting class, and was a semifinalist at Kalamazoo in the U16s. He had the pedigree to be a star for just about any team in the country. Here, he wasn’t playing. But he was never disheartened. He cheered and did everything he could to support the team in the capacity he could. And then he turned his focus inward.
He worked hard, so hard, and showed massive determination to break into an almost impossible lineup to crack. By his sophomore year, he was seeing some time on court six in singles, and played doubles during the ACC Championship run, but he still wasn’t satisfied. This determination and enhanced work ethic was one of the things that got him voted as a team captain for the 2022-23 team, a role that he took very seriously. He was determined to lead this team, and equally determined to crack the lineup. His hard work paid off as he earned his playing time, and posted a perfect 10-0 record in conference play. He went 4-0 at No. 5 singles in the NCAA Tournament, being named to the All-NCAA Tournament team. He won the clinching point in the NCAA Semifinals against No. 1 Texas, winning a third-set tiebreaker 7-5 against Cleeve Harper to get the Cavaliers to the final. He was also voted the “Teammate of the Year” at the all-sports banquet. This season, he is 23-10 in singles and 18-8 in doubles. His career record is 61-26 and 49-26 in doubles.
He is a captain again this year, and one of the most consistent players on the court. This was a year when there could have been shakeups at the bottom of the lineup with the players who came into the program, but he remained poised and let his play keep him in the lineup. He took a 13-match singles win streak into the NCAA Championship, including a 10-1 record in the ACC. The player who had to work his way into the lineup, and never complained about what it took to do that, went 20-1 in conference play once he became a regular in the lineup and has played and succeeded in some of the biggest moments in college tennis. And he does so with grace and dignity.
Alex Kiefer is the model of what you want a team leader to look like. He is humble, fair and always carries himself with a sense of decorum. He shakes hands with all he meets, looking people in the eye as he introduces himself and greets them. In the classroom, he took on the McIntire School of Commerce, and won there, too. He got into the highly-competitive program and will be graduating in May with his degree in Commerce. Heading into the final semester, he holds a 3.357 cumulative GPA. He has been a part of the SAAC mentoring program and has been the team’s SAAC representative. He has taken part in the annual Special Olympics clinics, working with the athletes in a fun annual event that is held here on our courts.
A Quote from the Head Coach
Congratulations to our very own Alex Kiefer for being named the 2024 ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award recipient. Alex is the first player in our program’s history to have earned this great honor and he did so by embracing all aspects of his student-athlete experience at the University of Virginia (UVA).
The Alex Kiefer story is one that I will be telling future student-athletes for a very long time. Alex showed up to Charlottesville with very lofty goals, which included gaining acceptance into the UVA McIntire School of Commerce, as well as solidifying himself as a starting singles and doubles player on a national championship caliber team. In the end, Alex graduated with 3.5 GPA from our prestigious undergraduate business school, and he also played a vital role in our 2022 and 2023 NCAA Team Championships. Accomplishments such as these were the result of tremendous work ethic, character and a total commitment on his part to earning a world-class education, maximizing as a tennis player and becoming the strongest leader possible for our program.
For Alex, it was always about the team, about serving others and leaving the UVA Men’s Tennis program in a better place than he found it in the Fall of 2020. Alex was always our hardest worker in practice, especially during the times where his name was not being called to play in matches. He ended up becoming one of our toughest competitors, but only after experiencing several moments of heartache early on in his UVA tennis career. Lastly, our team culture was extremely important to Alex because he knew the state of our culture would be the ultimate litmus test in terms of what his impact had been on our program.
I’d like to thank the ITA and College Tennis for recognizing this fine young man for embodying everything that a student-athlete in collegiate athletics should aim to achieve academically, athletically and personally. I am confident that the legendary Arthur Ashe would be very proud of Alex for everything that he accomplished at the University of Virginia and the tremendous impact he had on others within and outside our men’s tennis program. Congratulations, Alex. - Head Coach Andres Pedroso