North Carolina
Georgia Tech
Men's Tennis Wins 25th ACC Title
April 21, 2002 | Men's Tennis
April 21, 2002
RALEIGH, N.C. - The UNC men's tennis team won the first of two Carolina ACC tennis titles Sunday with a 4-3 victory over Georgia Tech and joined the women's team on the championship podium for Carolina's third double ACC tennis championship, and the first since the 1978-79 season.
The victory wasn't sealed until the completion of the sixth singles match of the day. In front of a roaring crowd, Trystan Meniane clinched the win in the third set, downing David Wright, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 at flight two to earn Carolina's 25th ACC title and first since 1992.
"I'm really proud of my team and especially senior captain Marcio Petrone," said UNC head coach Sam Paul who won his first ACC championship Sunday. "This team has put in a lot of hard work and they have been disciplined and today all the hard work paid off for them. Georgia Tech played a great match and I want to give them a lot of credit."
Marcio Petrone earned MVP honors, thanks in part to his 6-2, 6-1 victory over Roger Anderson at flight one for Carolina's first singles point of the day. Daniel Pinchbeck also scored an easy victory at flight three, defeating Joao Menano, 6-3, 6-2 to round out the singles victories for the top of the lineup.
The Tar Heels have now won 11 of their last 12 matches since a 4-3 victory over Georgia Tech in the regular season and stand at 19-5 and 10-1 in the ACC.
"This is such a great feeling for me personally," Paul said. "I remember what it was like to win the championship in 1990 and 1992 when I was an assistant coach for Coach Allen Morris. I remember how much it meant to Coach Morris to win those two titles.
"I'm happy for everybody in the Tar Heel tennis family today. We had a player here today from the John Kenfield era, Billy Trott was here from when Don Skakle was the head coach and it was great to see players who played for me like David Caldwell, Jon Balch and Tripp Phillips."
A large Tar Heel rooting section was on hand and led cheers of "TAR" and then "HEELS" between the two grandstands.
"We had a great crowd there today. That was so awesome to see so many fans rooting for us," said Paul. "I want to thank Dick Baddour and Beth Miller from our athletic administration for their support as well.
"I got to call my mom, Barbara, who is at home in Lancaster, S.C. right after the match and she was ecstatic. Of course, she is ecstatic when we beat anybody at anytime."
The victory gives Carolina its seventh ACC title of the 2001-02 school year and the first for a men's team. With the seven titles, UNC has now clinched its 15th consecutive season of winning as many or more conference championships than any other ACC school.
Carolina will next play May 11 at the first round of NCAA regionals.
Singles:
1. #34 Marcio Petrone (UNC) d. # 27 Roger Anderson (GT), 6-2, 6-1
2. Trystan Meniane (UNC) d. David Wright (GT), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2*
3. Daniel Pinchbeck (UNC) d. Joao Menano (GT) 6-3, 6-2
4. Scott Schnugg (GT) d. Nicholas Monroe (UNC), 6-2, 7-5
5. West Nott (GT) d. Geoff Boyd (UNC), 6-2, 6-4
6. Stephen Moros (GT) d. Andy Metzler, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles:
1. Anderson/Wright vs. Greg Archer/Petrone, 6-5, susp.
2. Pinchbeck/Monroe d. #46 Nott/Schnugg, 8-5
3. Meniane/Boyd d. Fabio Campos/Menano, 8-4
*Clinching match
Players Mentioned
