University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Blanks NC State In ACC Opening Round
April 21, 2005 | Men's Tennis
April 21, 2005
CARY, N.C. - North Carolina's men's tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Tennis Championship by beating 50th-ranked NC State 4-0 Thursday afternoon at the Cary Tennis Center. The No. 45th-ranked Tar Heels advanced to play eighth-ranked Duke on Friday with that match beginning at 3 p.m.
UNC came out and took care of business against the Wolfpack Thursday as the Tar Heels broke a four-match losing streak and improved to 15-9 overall. NC State lost its eighth match in a row and fell to 15-12 on the season.
Carolina seized the momentum in the match by winning by the doubles point for the 14th time this season. UNC is 14-0 when winning the doubles point and 1-9 when losing it. That held true to form again Thursday. Jonathan Janda and Raian Luchici won at the No. 2 spot for Carolina, downing State's Andre Iriarte and Val Banada 8-5. UNC then clinched the point at No. 1 as Geoff Boyd and Brad Pomeroy rallied from a 4-2 deficit to win the six of the last seven games and win the match 8-5. UNC's Aly Mandour and Derek Porter led at the No. 3 spot 8-7 before it was called.
For senior Jonathan Janda, it was his 50th career win in doubles play, improving his career mark to 50-22.
Needed three singles wins to seal the match, the Tar Heels won in straight sets at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 5 singles spots to finish the match in less than three hours. All three singles matches clinched within four minutes of each other.
Brad Pomeroy of UNC was the first to win his match as he defeated Nick Cavady, ranked #108 nationally, 6-0, 6-4. Carolina's Raian Luchici, ranked 70th, scored the second point as he downed Conor Taylor 6-0, 6-1 at the No. 1 spot. UNC then clinched the point when Jonathan Janda downed William Noblitt of the Wolfpack 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.
Both Pomeroy and Janda avenged regular-season singles matches against the Wolfpack. Janda had fallen to Noblitt at the No. 6 spot in the regular season 7-5, 7-6 and Noblitt came into the match with the best singles record of any Wolfpack player at 18-4.
Pomeroy avenged his loss to Cavady in the regular season which was decided by a 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6) score. Pomeroy dominated the match this time by winning the opening set 6-0 and the closing Cavady down 6-4 in the second. UNC's Benjamin Carlotti return to the lineup for the first time since Carolina's win over Virginia Tech on April 2. The freshman from Paris, France has been fighting an illness and he won the opened set at No. 6 singles over Val Banada before play was halted after UNC clinched the match. NC State had won opening sets at No. 3 and No. 4 singles and UNC led the in the second sets of both matches when they were stopped.
UNC has now won 23 successive dual matches over the Wolfpack dating back to a regular season loss to NC State in 1988. Carolina is now 7-0 all-time against NC State in ACC Tournament play and UNC is 79-5 all-time against the Wolfpack.
No. 8-ranked Duke will provide the opposition for Carolina Friday in the quarterfinals. UNC has not beaten the Blue Devils since 1996 and Duke is currently 18-4 overall and 8-2 in the ACC. UNC is 2-6 all-time in ACC Tournament action versus Duke.
#45 NORTH CAROLINA 4, #50 NC STATE 0
Doubles (Team winning majority of three matches earns one team point)
#1 Geoff Boyd/Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. Nick Cavaday/Will Shaw (NCSU), 8-5
#2 Jonathan Janda/Raian Luchici (UNC) d. Andre Iriarte/Val Banada (NCSU), 8-5
#3 Aly Madour/Derek Porter (UNC) led William Noblitt/Mason Schermerhorn (NCSU), 8-7, did not finish
Order of Finish: #2, #1
Singles
#1 #70 Raian Luchici (UNC) d. Conor Taylor (NCSU), 6-0, 6-1
#2 Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. #108 Nick Cavaday (NCSU), 6-0, 6-4
#3 Will Shaw (NCSU) led Geoff Boyd (UNC), 6-4, 1-3, did not finish
#4 Andre Iriarte (NCSU) led Derek Porter (UNC), 6-3, 2-3, did not finish
#5 Jonathan Janda (UNC) d. William Noblitt (NCSU), 6-4, 6-3*
#6 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) led Val Banada (NCSU), 7-5, 1-1, did not finish
*Match clincher
Order of Finish: #2, #1, #5
Team Records: North Carolina 15-9, NC State 15-12
Players Mentioned
