University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Tennis NCAA Tournament Notes
May 9, 2001 | Men's Tennis
May 9, 2001
2001 NCAA MEN'S TENNIS REGIONAL NOTES
First Round
#33 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. #26 Arkansas Razorbacks
Dallas, Texas, Saturday, May 12, 2001, 2 p.m. C.D.T.
Second Round (If Applicable)
North Carolina vs. #8 Southern Methodist/Oral Roberts
Dallas, Texas, May 13, 2001, 2 p.m. C.D.T.
Probable North Carolina Line-up
Pos. Player Class Hometown Overall Dual
#1 Marcio Petrone Jr. Bairro, Meireles, Brazil 16-15 9-10
#2 David Cheatwood Sr. Fayetteville, N.C. 15-14 10-9
#3 Nicholas Monroe Fr. Olathe, Kan. 18-12 12-7
#4 Trystan Meniane So. Martinique, France 20-11 13-6
#5 Greg Archer So. Beachwood, N.J. 16-14 11-8
#6 Chad Riley Sr. Sugar Land, Tex. 12-9 12-6
Doubles
#1 Cheatwood/Monroe 4-9
#2 Archer/Petrone 10-4
#3 Meniane/Riley 9-5
Carolina's Record When...
Winning Doubles Point: 9-3
Losing the Doubles Point: 2-5
Head Coach: Sam Paul 119-71 overall at North Carolina (46-18 in ACC) 8th year
Assistant: Marc Schwartz
Volunteer Assistant: Don Johnson
Carolina's Season Highlights
o Finished with a 6-2 ACC record for the third time in four years.
o Finished in the top three in the ACC standings for the 12th time in 13 years.
o Carolina won seven of its last nine matches. Five of the wins were on the road.
o UNC defeated last year's NCAA finalist, VCU in Richmond. VCU's record at home at the time was 106-7 under coach Paul Kostin.
o Carolina handed Ga. Tech one of only five losses all season. Tech's other losses were to #1 UCLA, #2 Georgia, #3 Duke and #18 Southern California.
o David Cheatwood: ACC #3 Singles Champion (for the second consecutive year).
o Junior Marcio Petrone was named All-Atlantic Coast Conference.
o Trystan Meniane and Chad Riley: ACC #3 Doubles Champions
o Senior Chad Riley was twice named ACC Player of the Week.
o Greg Archer and Marcio Petrone won nine consecutive matches at #2 doubles and finished 6-0 in the ACC.
o Marcio Petrone defeated three nationally ranked opponents in the last eight days of the regular season to pull his overall record to over .500.
o Trystan Meniane led the team with 39 total wins (singles and doubles).
*Noting Carolina in the NCAA Championship...North Carolina was invited to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 years and the 11th time overall since the tournament went to a team format in 1977. Carolina's previous NCAA Tournament bids came in 1977, 1978, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. The Tar Heels advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 1992. Carolina has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in 1977, 1978, 1992 and 1993. Last year Carolina played in a regional at eventual NCAA semifinalist Tennessee. The Tar Heels defeated Ball State in the first round before falling to the host Volunteers in the regional championship.
*Noting Nicholas...Monroe made a strong case for ACC Rookie of the Year honors...Is 12-6 playing the #2-4 positions in the singles line-up. Three of his six losses are to nationally ranked players...Won 11 of his first 13 dual matches this spring...Concluded his team high seven match winning streak with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Charlotte's Jacob Nordwall...Defeated Rice's William Barker 6-2, 6-2, who was rated 84th nationally...Fought off two sets points in the 2nd set tiebreaker to down FSU's Gustav Bucht 7-6(6), 7-6(8)...Sealed the win at N.C. State with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Michael Carducci.
*Cheatwood Turning the Tables...David Cheatwood began the spring 3-6, but has reversed those numbers and is 6-3 over the last month of the season...Was named ACC Player of the Week after clinching UNC's wins over Virginia and Florida State...The 5-2 win over UVA was Carolina's first victory over the Wahoos in Cheatwood's four year career...Clinched the UVA match by hitting three brilliant backhand winners to break Tommy Croker and then served out the 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory...Rallied from a set down to defeat South Carolina's David Nelson and spark the Tar Heels' 6-1 victory...Has been accepted to Law School at Wake Forest University...David's father, Phil, is a former stand-out quarterback at Wake Forest.
*Riley Rolling...seven wins in his last nine matches...Only player in the conference to receive the ACC Player of the Week award twice this spring...Could defend his #6 singles title from last year, since he is 6-2 at that position again this spring...Overcame a shoulder injury in the fall which limited to only one match...Has a 4-1 record against Clemson in dual matches, including wins in the past two ACC tournaments...Posted an 11-3 overall (singles and doubles) record during the month of March...Has a 26-15 career record playing #6 singles...Has a 12-9 career record playing #3 doubles...Impressive 9-3 record in singles tiebreaks.
*Paul Moving Up Charts...Head Coach Sam Paul's 46-18 ACC record places him fourth all-time among conference coaches in winning percentage (.728). Paul's conference winning percentage ranks second among active ACC coaches...Paul should be a top candidate to repeat as ACC Coach of the Year in 2001...No coach has won the honor in back-to-back years since Clemson's Chuck Kriese in 1986 and 1987...Despite losing his #1 and #2 players in the line-up and beginning the 2001 season with a 4-5 record, Paul's team rebounded to win seven of its last nine matches and tie for second place in the conference.
Clinching Wins
The following players have won the decisive fourth point
in Carolina's victories this spring:
Chad Riley (3) Campbell, USC, Clemson
Nicholas Monroe (2) Davidson, N.C. State
Trystan Meniane (2) Charlotte, Maryland
David Cheatwood (2) Virginia, FSU
Marcio Petrone (1) VCU
Greg Archer (1) Georgia Tech
Monthly Records February March April
Team 3-3 5-2 3-3
Archer 4-2 4-3 3-3
Cheatwood 3-3 4-3 3-3
Meniane 3-3 6-1 4-2
Monroe 6-0 5-2 1-5
Petrone 3-3 2-5 4-2
Riley 3-2 5-2 4-2
Players Mentioned
