North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Tar Heel Men's Tennis Season Ends At NCAA Regional
May 11, 2002 | Men's Tennis
May 11, 2002
KNOXVILLE, TENN. - North Carolina's outstanding men's tennis season ended Saturday afternoon as the Tar Heels fell to Virginia Tech 4-2 in the semifinals of an NCAA regional being hosted by the University of Tennessee.
UNC, the 2002 Atlantic Coast Conference champion, finishes the season at 19-6. Carolina has appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 10 of the past 11 seasons. VPI advances to the regional championship to meet the winner of the other regional semifinal match between Tennessee, the entire NCAA Tournament's #2 seed, and Wake Forest.
UNC's wins on Saturday were by senior Marcio Petrone at #1 singles and freshman Daniel Pinchbeck at #3 singles. Petrone finished his magnificent college career with a 67-34 singles mark after his win over 70th-ranked Saber Kadiri of VPI, 6-3, 6-4.
Virginia Tech improved to 17-7 on the season with the win.
Virginia Tech 4, North Carolina 2
Singles:
1) (31) Marcio Petrone (UNC) def. (70) Saber Kadiri (VT) 6-3, 6-4
2) Francis Hout (VT) def. (110) Trystan Meniane (UNC) 6-2, 6-1
3) Daniel Pinchbeck (UNC) def. Stephane Rod (VT) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
4) Nicholas Monroe (UNC) vs. Davon Dupljak (VT) suspended (UNC led 4-6, 7-5, 5-1)
5) Andres Laulund (VT) def. Geoff Boyd (UNC) 3-6, 7-6, 6-1
6) Grant Reynolds (VT) def. Andy Metzler (UNC) 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
Finishing order: 2, 3, 1, 6, 5
Doubles:
1) Archer/Petrone (UNC) vs. Laulund/Rod (VT) 8-5
2) Dupljak/Kadiri (VT) def. Monroe/Pinchbeck (UNC) 9-7
3) Hout/Kurz (VT) def. Boyd/Meniane (UNC) 8-4*
Finishing order: 1, 3, 2*
* Clinching Point
Team Records: Virginia Tech win 4-2
North Carolina (19-6)
Virginia Tech (17-7)
North Carolina Head Coach Sam Paul: "I give Virginia Tech credit. They had a
little more energy than we did, more juice today than us. Our guys had a great
year, but we just did not play well. They outplayed us. They played better on
the big points and I give them credit. We had a match point down on No. 6
singles and if we win that one on straight sets we win the match. Things kind
of fell apart for us, but they hit some pretty big shots as well. He
(Reynolds) hit some pretty big backhands which he was not doing earlier in the
match, and again give Virginia Tech credit."
Virginia Tech Head Coach Jim Thompson: "We've really worked hard all year to
put ourselves in this position. We believed in what we were doing. Certainly
North Carolina is a good team and we were lucky to come out with the win. The
doubles point was big for us, but we also saved four match points at No. 6,
and what a great effort Grant reynolds gave us today. The rankings are hard to
judge and really deceiving. We have not paid a whole lot of attention to them
all year. I thought we played really well and with no fear of North Carolina."
