University of North Carolina Athletics
Sunday, April 1
Chapel Hill
1:00 PM
North Carolina
6
vs
1
Virginia
Senior Robert Kelly and the Tar Heels beat Virginia 6-1 Sunday.
Tar Heels Roll To 6-1 Win Over Visiting Virginia
April 1, 2018 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C . – Fifth-ranked North Carolina rolled to a 6-1 win over visiting Virginia Sunday afternoon in Atlantic Coast Conference men's tennis action at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Tar Heels took the doubles point and the first five singles matches to improve to 5-1 in conference play and 14-4 overall. No. 37 Virginia fell to 11-7 (4-3 ACC).
"They've got a great program and they're under-ranked – we knew it would be a tough match," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "It was a total team effort."
The first Tar Heel victory of the day came at No. 3 doubles, where sophomore Simon Soendergaard and freshman Mac Kiger won 6-3, with Kiger coming to the net for the winning shot. Moments later senior Robert Kelly and sophomore William Blumberg won 6-2 at No. 1 to close out the doubles point and send the Tar Heels into singles with the advantage.
"Simon and Mac winning at doubles, that helps a lot, and obviously Robert and Will winning doubles," Paul said. "And we did some good stuff in singles. There are things we're still working on that we can get a little bit better in, but it was a good day."
Kelly carried the doubles momentum into singles for a quick 6-2, 6-2 win on Court 4 and a 2-0 lead for the Tar Heels. Kiger, playing on Court 6, picked up a 6-3, 6-3 win to move a step closer to clinching.
The deciding point came from another freshman, Benjamin Sigouin, who earned a 6-4, 6-3 win on Court 2.
On Court 1, Blumberg won his first set 6-1, but fell in the second. He rebounded for a 6-2 win in the third to put the Tar Heels up 5-0.
On Court 5, junior Blaine Boyden won his first set 6-3 but had to play catch up through most of the second, finally tying at 6-6 to force a tiebreaker. He trailed 6-5 in that but battled back to tie it then go on to win 8-6 when Kyrylo Tsygura's return on match point went long.
That left just one court in action. At No. 3, Soendergaard fell to #32 Aswin Lizen in the first set, but came back to win the second 6-4. In the third set Soendergaard led 5-3, but Lizen rebounded to win 7-5. "Simon played well," Paul said. "He had one of his better performances today, but came up a little bit short. I was happy with the way he competed after losing the first set."
Next up for the Tar Heels is another home ACC match. They host Louisville Friday at 3 p.m.
No. 5 UNC 6, No. 37 Virginia 1
Doubles
Order of match finish: (3,1)
1. #3 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) vs. Lizen/Ross (UVA), 6-2
2. Sigouin/Boyden (UNC) vs. Soderlund/Lord (UVA), 3-4 UF
3. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC) d. Dockter/Bozsik (UVA), 6-3
Singles
Order of match finish: (4,6,2,1,5,3)
1. #2 William Blumberg (UNC) d. #38 Carl Soderlund (UVA), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
2. #34 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. #120 Gianni Ross (UVA), 6-4, 6-3
3. #32 Aswin Lizen (UVA) d. Simon Soendergaard (UNC) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
4. #99 Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Matthew Lord, 6-2, 6-2
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Kyrylo Tsygura (UVA), 6-3, 7-6(8-6)
6. Mac Kiger (UNC) d. Jefferson Dockter (UVA), 6-3, 6-3
Records: UNC 14-4 (5-1 ACC), Virginia 11-7 (4-3 ACC)
"They've got a great program and they're under-ranked – we knew it would be a tough match," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "It was a total team effort."
The first Tar Heel victory of the day came at No. 3 doubles, where sophomore Simon Soendergaard and freshman Mac Kiger won 6-3, with Kiger coming to the net for the winning shot. Moments later senior Robert Kelly and sophomore William Blumberg won 6-2 at No. 1 to close out the doubles point and send the Tar Heels into singles with the advantage.
"Simon and Mac winning at doubles, that helps a lot, and obviously Robert and Will winning doubles," Paul said. "And we did some good stuff in singles. There are things we're still working on that we can get a little bit better in, but it was a good day."
Kelly carried the doubles momentum into singles for a quick 6-2, 6-2 win on Court 4 and a 2-0 lead for the Tar Heels. Kiger, playing on Court 6, picked up a 6-3, 6-3 win to move a step closer to clinching.
The deciding point came from another freshman, Benjamin Sigouin, who earned a 6-4, 6-3 win on Court 2.
UNC 4 UVA 0 Sigouin d. Ross 6-4; 6-3 to clinch match pic.twitter.com/TEkj03mz6V
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 1, 2018
On Court 1, Blumberg won his first set 6-1, but fell in the second. He rebounded for a 6-2 win in the third to put the Tar Heels up 5-0.
UNC 5 UVA 0 Blumberg 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 Outstanding points played by Blumberg & Soderlund pic.twitter.com/dORszvEBV4
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 1, 2018
On Court 5, junior Blaine Boyden won his first set 6-3 but had to play catch up through most of the second, finally tying at 6-6 to force a tiebreaker. He trailed 6-5 in that but battled back to tie it then go on to win 8-6 when Kyrylo Tsygura's return on match point went long.
UNC 6 UVA 0 Tough 6-3, 7-6(6) victory for Boyden over Tsygura pic.twitter.com/802TdbISBp
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 1, 2018
That left just one court in action. At No. 3, Soendergaard fell to #32 Aswin Lizen in the first set, but came back to win the second 6-4. In the third set Soendergaard led 5-3, but Lizen rebounded to win 7-5. "Simon played well," Paul said. "He had one of his better performances today, but came up a little bit short. I was happy with the way he competed after losing the first set."
Post Match from Carolina's 6-1 win over UVA #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/AojMlRz6nH
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 1, 2018
Next up for the Tar Heels is another home ACC match. They host Louisville Friday at 3 p.m.
No. 5 UNC 6, No. 37 Virginia 1
Doubles
Order of match finish: (3,1)
1. #3 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) vs. Lizen/Ross (UVA), 6-2
2. Sigouin/Boyden (UNC) vs. Soderlund/Lord (UVA), 3-4 UF
3. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC) d. Dockter/Bozsik (UVA), 6-3
Singles
Order of match finish: (4,6,2,1,5,3)
1. #2 William Blumberg (UNC) d. #38 Carl Soderlund (UVA), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
2. #34 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. #120 Gianni Ross (UVA), 6-4, 6-3
3. #32 Aswin Lizen (UVA) d. Simon Soendergaard (UNC) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
4. #99 Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Matthew Lord, 6-2, 6-2
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Kyrylo Tsygura (UVA), 6-3, 7-6(8-6)
6. Mac Kiger (UNC) d. Jefferson Dockter (UVA), 6-3, 6-3
Records: UNC 14-4 (5-1 ACC), Virginia 11-7 (4-3 ACC)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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