University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel Tennis Seeks Trend Continuation
January 27, 2006 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 27, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - If history is any indication the 2006 men's tennis season at the University of North Carolina should indeed be an exciting one.
Beginning with the 1989 season, the Tar Heel men's tennis program has had winning seasons in 15 of the past 17 years and has earned an invitation to the NCAA Tournament in 13 of those 17 seasons.
It's no coincidence that after a 1988 season in which Carolina finished 0-7 in ACC dual matches Sam Paul would arrive the following summer in Chapel Hill as an assistant to head coach Allen Morris and the UNC program would move in a most positive direction in the process.
Eventually, Sam Paul took over as the Carolina head coach in 1993 after Allen Morris' retirement from coaching. As the head coach Paul has continued to shape teams which annually produce winning records and earn NCAA Tournament bids.
Carolina has been a beacon of consistent excellence during the 17 years Paul has served as an assistant and head coach but ironically the seasons in the even-numbered years have always produced results that are a slight cut above the accomplishments in the odd-numbered years.
There is probably no logical reason for this pattern other than the whims of fate. But if the trend holds true then the 2006 UNC men's tennis team could be a special squad indeed.
This team certainly has the makeup to make such a stellar campaign a reality. Despite losing singles starters Geoff Boyd (No. 3) and Jonathan Janda (No. 5) to graduation, the Tar Heels enter the season as an experienced team with a strong senior class of four talented individuals.
Three of the four members of the senior class have a strong likelihood to play at the top three positions in the singles lineup so Carolina should present opponents with a lineup that will be battle-hardened, cagy and veteran in its nature.
"Going into the 2006 season we are led by three seniors who have played a lot during their careers here so we know we have a lot of experience at the top of our lineup," says head coach Sam Paul.
"Nevertheless, we know the ACC this season is the best it has ever been on an overall basis and certainly the most competitive top to bottom it has ever been. Four teams go into the season ranked in the Top 15 in the nation and it is realistic that 11 of the 12 teams could earn NCAA bids and end up as teams ranked in the Top 40."
Further on down the lineup Carolina also returns a pair of underclassmen who both have significant starting experience while an outstanding freshman joins the squad and a cast of second-year players will be right in the thick of the intra-team competition to claim a spot in the lineup.
This team is dead set on improving on the accomplishments of the 2005 squad which were quite solid in their own right. The Tar Heels played an extraordinarly high number of close matches in 2005 with 10 of the last 15 matches of the season being decided with the winning team having only the four points necessary to clinch the team win.
A little good fortune in some of those close matches and Carolina could have parlayed a good season into a great season.
That statement is not meant to diminish the exploits of the 2005 squad in any manner. Overall UNC finished at 16-11 and in the process earned its sixth successive trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking the Heels came in at the No. 34 spot.
Carolina was tough to play both at home and indoors as UNC compiled an 11-3 record in both of those area. One of the highlights of the season came in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament when the Tar Heels made a strong run at a potential championship.
North Carolina had finished the regular season with a 4-6 mark in ACC dual matches with three of the six losses coming by razor-thin 4-3 margins. UNC tied for sixth in the ACC standings and was seeded No. 7 in the tournament. In the opening round of the tournament the Tar Heels advanced by defeating NC State 4-0. With the win UNC earned a chance to meet eighth-ranked Duke in the quarterfinals just nine days after the Blue Devils had thrashed the Tar Heels 7-0 at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in the regular season meeting.
Carolina pulled off a stunning upset of the Blue Devils 4-2, UNC's first win over Duke since 1996 and the highest ranked opponent the Tar Heels had beaten since 1994. In the process Carolina became only the second team in history seeded seventh or lower to advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. UNC's quest for the title ended the next day with a 4-2 loss to eventual NCAA quarterfinalist Florida State in the semifinals but that loss did not sully the outstanding effort of the team.
Despite the loss of two starters Carolina does return the kind of lineup which should be able to breed a successful atmosphere.
UNC returns seniors Raian Luchici, Brad Pomeroy and Derek Porter. In 2005, those three players manned the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 spots in the singles lineup and all had outstanding seasons. Luchici, who goes into this season ranked fifth nationally by the ITA in singles, finished 25-15 in singles in 2004-05 and had eight wins over nationally-ranked opponents during the year. He also earned an invitation to the singles phase of the NCAA Tournament.
Pomeroy had an outstanding season while playing with Geoff Boyd at No. 1 doubles. The duo finished the 2005 season with an overall doubles ledger of 26-12. Pomeroy and Porter played primarily at the No. 2 and No. 4 singles spots in the lineup last season, posting 18 and 21 singles wins, respectively.
Two other players with significant starting experience who return to Carolina this year are junior Sebastian Guejman and sophomore Benjamin Carlotti. Guejman played much of last season at No. 6 singles flight and ended the year with a 14-6 record. Carlotti spent most of his freshman year at the No. 5 singles spot where he posted a singles mark of 24-7, ranking only one win behind Luchici for the most wins on team. Both Luchici and Carlotti finished the season ranked by the ITA in singles with ratings of No. 56 and No. 109 respectively.
Much of the work in the preseason will center around the search to establish a No. 6 player for the singles lineup and how to configure the doubles teams to maximum advantage.
Luchici and Pomeroy currently play at No. 1 doubles and they are ranked No. 1 in the nation heading into the spring season after reaching at least the semifinals of two national ITA tournaments last fall. The rest of the doubles lineup will be sorted out as the season progresses.
There are a host of possibilities for the final spot in the singles lineup. Both freshman Taylor Fogleman and sophomore Will Plyler have earned a shot at the spot with their practice work but coach Paul has seven other returning letter winners who could make a serious run at nailing down the spot in the lineup.
"We're very excited about the level of competition we are likely to face this year and we look forward to competing against teams of this calibre on a regular basis," says head coach Sam Paul. "One of the keys for us will be to keep our team healthy. If we can do that we feel we have a lineup that can compete against anyone in the nation."
Players Mentioned
