Sunday, January 28
Chapel Hill
1:00 PM
North Carolina
4
vs
2
Michigan
Simon Soendergaard clinched the win with a victory on court four.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Tar Heels Battle To Beat No. 17 Michigan 4-2
January 28, 2018 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The third-ranked North Carolina men's tennis team earned a trip to Seattle and a spot in the ITA National Team Indoors field with a hard-fought 4-2 win over No. 17 Michigan Sunday afternoon. The Tar Heels improved to 5-0 on the season with the victory, which came in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about 500 and capped play in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend at UNC's Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
"Credit to our guys," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "They stepped up and fought like crazy. It was a good win for us today and we learned a lot that will help us down the road. We're excited to move on to Seattle."
The 16-team event, which UNC won in 2016, is Feb. 16-19 and is hosted by the University of Washington.
Carolina beat Drake Saturday in the first match of ITA Kick-Off Weekend, earning the team's fourth shutout in as many matches this spring. So when Michigan came out and claimed the doubles point on Sunday with wins at the one and two spots, UNC found itself in an unfamiliar position, if not a completely surprising one.
"Michigan has got a great team," Paul said. "I've known their coach for a long time and I knew they'd come at us. We watched them play doubles yesterday and they play some of the best doubles I've seen in the last year."
UNC dove into singles determined to regain the advantage. At No. 6, sophomore Blaine Boyden won in straight sets to even the score at 1-1. Senior Robert Kelly then put UNC up for good with a win at No. 3, 6-4, 6-3.
As Kelly finished on court three, freshman Benjamin Sigouin was in a tiebreaker on court two. After winning his first set 6-4, he battled to claim the second-set tiebreaker 7-3 to put UNC within a point of clinching.
Heading into Saturday, the Tar Heels hadn't had a singles match go to a third set all season. Against the Wolverines, three did, at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5. Michigan claimed a point in a top-10 battle on court one, with ninth-ranked Alex Knight beating second-ranked William Blumberg 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Minutes after that match finished, the UNC crowd again had reason to cheer, as sophomore Simon Soendergaard wrapped up a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win to give Carolina the win.
"The atmosphere here was great – we could really feel the energy," Paul said. "That's really important for us, for all of our home matches. We hope people enjoyed watching and they'll come back – we've got some more great teams coming in."
Next up for the Tar Heels is a matchup with another Big Ten team as No. 16 Illinois visits on Saturday (Feb. 3) at 6 p.m. On the heels of that match, No. 10 TCU visits on Feb. 6 for another top non-conference battle.
Jan. 28, 2017
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 3 North Carolina 4, No. 17 Michigan 2
Doubles
Order of match finish: (2, 3, 1)
1. #19 Knight/Hua (MICH) d. #3 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC), 7-5
2. Johnston/Schalet (MICH) d. Peck/Sigouin (UNC), 6-3
3. Kinger/Soendergaard (UNC) d. M. Siimar/K Siimar (MICH), 6-4
Singles
Order of match finish: (6, 3, 2, 1, 4)
1. #9 Alex Knight (MICH) d. #2 William Blumberg (UNC), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
2. Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. #20 Runhao Hua (MICH), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
3. #94 Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Mattias Siimar (MICH), 6-4, 6-3
4. #70 Simon Soendergaard (UNC) d. Myles Schalet (MICH), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. #79 Josh Peck (UNC) vs. Carter Lin (MICH), 7-5, 4-6, 2-3 unfinished
6. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Davis Crocker (MICH), 6-2, 6-4
Records: UNC 5-0, Michigan 3-1
"Credit to our guys," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "They stepped up and fought like crazy. It was a good win for us today and we learned a lot that will help us down the road. We're excited to move on to Seattle."
The 16-team event, which UNC won in 2016, is Feb. 16-19 and is hosted by the University of Washington.
Carolina beat Drake Saturday in the first match of ITA Kick-Off Weekend, earning the team's fourth shutout in as many matches this spring. So when Michigan came out and claimed the doubles point on Sunday with wins at the one and two spots, UNC found itself in an unfamiliar position, if not a completely surprising one.
"Michigan has got a great team," Paul said. "I've known their coach for a long time and I knew they'd come at us. We watched them play doubles yesterday and they play some of the best doubles I've seen in the last year."
UNC dove into singles determined to regain the advantage. At No. 6, sophomore Blaine Boyden won in straight sets to even the score at 1-1. Senior Robert Kelly then put UNC up for good with a win at No. 3, 6-4, 6-3.
As Kelly finished on court three, freshman Benjamin Sigouin was in a tiebreaker on court two. After winning his first set 6-4, he battled to claim the second-set tiebreaker 7-3 to put UNC within a point of clinching.
UNC 3 Mich 1 Sigouin 6-4, 7-6(3) pic.twitter.com/GWVppKJTdr
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) January 28, 2018
Heading into Saturday, the Tar Heels hadn't had a singles match go to a third set all season. Against the Wolverines, three did, at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 5. Michigan claimed a point in a top-10 battle on court one, with ninth-ranked Alex Knight beating second-ranked William Blumberg 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Minutes after that match finished, the UNC crowd again had reason to cheer, as sophomore Simon Soendergaard wrapped up a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win to give Carolina the win.
FINAL UNC 4 Michigan 2 Soendergaard clinches UNC 4th straight trip to National Indoors 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 pic.twitter.com/6eFjpERXTV
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) January 28, 2018
"The atmosphere here was great – we could really feel the energy," Paul said. "That's really important for us, for all of our home matches. We hope people enjoyed watching and they'll come back – we've got some more great teams coming in."
Next up for the Tar Heels is a matchup with another Big Ten team as No. 16 Illinois visits on Saturday (Feb. 3) at 6 p.m. On the heels of that match, No. 10 TCU visits on Feb. 6 for another top non-conference battle.
Bo Boyden discusses Carolina's return to the National Team Indoors and setting the tone in singles pic.twitter.com/coUv5Y8rp9
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) January 28, 2018
Jan. 28, 2017
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 3 North Carolina 4, No. 17 Michigan 2
Doubles
Order of match finish: (2, 3, 1)
1. #19 Knight/Hua (MICH) d. #3 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC), 7-5
2. Johnston/Schalet (MICH) d. Peck/Sigouin (UNC), 6-3
3. Kinger/Soendergaard (UNC) d. M. Siimar/K Siimar (MICH), 6-4
Singles
Order of match finish: (6, 3, 2, 1, 4)
1. #9 Alex Knight (MICH) d. #2 William Blumberg (UNC), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
2. Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. #20 Runhao Hua (MICH), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
3. #94 Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Mattias Siimar (MICH), 6-4, 6-3
4. #70 Simon Soendergaard (UNC) d. Myles Schalet (MICH), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. #79 Josh Peck (UNC) vs. Carter Lin (MICH), 7-5, 4-6, 2-3 unfinished
6. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Davis Crocker (MICH), 6-2, 6-4
Records: UNC 5-0, Michigan 3-1
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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