Tar Heels Claim Share Of ACC Regular Season Crown With 11th Win

Sunday, April 22

Coral Gables, FL

9:00 AM

North Carolina

Miami

UNC claimed a share of the ACC regular-season title with a 4-0 win at Miami Sunday.

Tar Heels Claim Share Of ACC Regular Season Crown With 11th Win

April 22, 2018 | Men's Tennis

2018 ACC Championship Bracket Final ACC Standings ACC Championship Central

By: UNC Athletic Communications

North Carolina earned a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference men's tennis regular season title with a 4-0 win at Miami on Sunday. The Tar Heels finish conference play with a record of 11-1, setting a new program mark for most ACC wins in a season.

Next up for UNC is the ACC Championship, which runs Wednesday through Sunday in Cary, N.C. Carolina is the No. 2 seed in the field.

"I'm really proud of my guys and how hard they've worked for this," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "It's impressive to come down to Florida this weekend and get two really tough wins. Now we're looking forward to the ACC Tournament and the most fun part of the year."

Sunday's match was delayed by rainy weather and when it got rolling, the teams started with singles, agreeing that doubles would be played only if necessary to determine the team result. The match never got that far, as UNC won the first four singles matches to finish to claim the victory.

Freshman Mac Kiger was the first to wrap up, winning 6-4, 6-1 on Court 6 to put the Tar Heels ahead 1-0.

Next to finish was the other freshman in the lineup, Benjamin Sigouin on Court 2. He beat Christian Langmo, ranked No. 123, 7-5, 6-3 on Court 2.

On Court 1, sophomore William Blumberg went to a third set but beat Adria Soriano, ranked No. 108, to put the Tar Heels within a point of the team win.

It was junior Blaine Boyden on Court 5 who sealed it for Carolina. He won the first set in a tiebreaker, claiming the final three points after being tied at 4 to take the breaker 7-4. The second set went more quickly, with Boyden earning a 6-2 win to make it 4-0 UNC and give the Tar Heels the win.

Boyden 7-6, 5-2; UNC 3-0 pic.twitter.com/mDZC2RPbCF
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 22, 2018

UNC 4 Miami 0 Bo Boyden clinches 7-6, 6-2; Carolina has at least a share of the 2018 ACC Regular Season Title pic.twitter.com/vvjior21Z4
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 22, 2018

The 11th ACC win was one more than last year, when UNC equaled the program's best-ever finish with a 10-2 mark. This year's only loss in conference play was to top-ranked Wake Forest, which also finished with an 11-1 ACC record and earned the top seed in the ACC Championship by winning the tiebreaker with UNC.

The last time the Tar Heels earned at least a share of the conference regular-season title was in 2004. They'll open ACC Championship play Friday at 5 p.m. For a look at the bracket, click here.

No. 7 UNC 4, No. 48 Miami 0
Doubles
Order of match finish: (doubles not played)
1. #1 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) vs. Langmo/Soriano (UM), UF
2. Sigouin/Boyden (UNC) vs. Jankulovski/Dunlap (UM), UF
3. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC) vs. Aycart/Clark (UM), UF

Singles
Order of match finish: (6,2,1,5)
1. #2 William Blumberg d. #108 Adria Soriano (UM), 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
2. #38 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. #123 Christian Langmo (UM), 7-5, 6-3
3. Simon Soendergaard (UNC) vs. Bojan Jakulovski (UM), 3-6. 6-2, 1-2 UF
4. #87 Robert Kelly (UNC) vs. Dane Dunlap (UM), 6-7, 6-3 UF
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Niclas Genovese (UM), 7-6, 6-2
6. Mac Kiger (UNC) d. Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 6-4, 6-1

Records: UNC 20-4 (11-1 ACC), Miami 13-11 (4-8 ACC)