University of North Carolina Athletics
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Virginia
No. 12 UNC Rallies In Singles To Hand No. 11 Virginia Only Second ACC Loss In Last 27 Matches
April 14, 2006 | Men's Tennis
April 14, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - In a match that lasted five hours and thirty-nine minutes, the No. 12 North Carolina men's tennis team edged No. 11 Virginia 4-3 as sophomore Benjamin Carlotti rallied from a set down against Marko Miklo to eventually win in a tiebreaker in the third set in the deciding singles match.
Carolina improved to 22-3 on the season and 7-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The loss for the Cavaliers was only the second for them in their last 27 ACC matches. Virginia is now 18-7 on the season and 8-2 in the ACC.
Carolina was seeking to bounce back from a heartbreaking 4-3 loss at No. 6 Duke on Wednesday as two-time defending ACC champion Virginia visited Chapel Hill on a weekend when four Tar Heels seniors are playing their final two home matches of their careers. Three of those seniors won their singles matches Friday to help Coach Sam Paul's team rally for the victory. UNC pulled off the triumph the hard way Friday as the Tar Heels had to come back from losing the doubles point to win four of six singles matches against a Virginia lineup which features four players ranked in the Top 91 nationally in singles. UNC has lost the doubles points four times during the season but has rallied to win in two of those four matches, beating Clemson and Virginia by 4-3 scores in Chapel Hill.
"That was a great college tennis match today," said coach Paul. "Both of those teams fought to the bitter end and we were thrilled to beat a Virginia team that is so well-coached.
"Benjamin showed tremendous grit out there today to come back from a set down and then win a third set that had so much drama to it. There will so many incredible mood swings in the third set with both players breaking each other's serve consistently."
For the second straight match, the Tar Heels got off on the wrong foot in doubles play just as they did against Duke. Facing a lineup with three outstanding doubles teams, the Tar Heels dropped all three matches and the Cavaliers earned the doubles point to go up 1-0.
The team of Nick Meythaler and Rylan Rizza, ranked No. 27 in the nation, upset No. 6-ranked Raian Luchici and Brad Pomeroy 8-4 at the No. 1 spot while Somdev Devvarmann and Treat Huey defeated Carolina's Lenny Gullan and David Stone by the same score at No. 2. The third match, which became meaningless in terms of determining the team point, was tightly contested with Darrin Cohen and Doug Stewart of the Wahoos edging Sebastian Guejman and Derek Porter 9-8, winning in the tiebreaker 7-4.
Treat Huey, ranked 53rd nationally in singles, quickly extended the Wahoos' lead to 2-0 as he scored a decisive straight set win over Sebastian Guejman at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 6-1.
Carolina then won three straight singles matches to take a 3-2 lead in the team score. At No. 3 singles, UNC senior Derek Porter upset No. 91-ranked Doug Stewart 7-5, 6-1. The next match off the court was at No. 6 singles as senior Aly Mandour outlasted Virginia's Darrin Cohen 6-4, 7-5. Mandour rallied from 5-4 down in the second set to claim the win.
The Tar Heels took a brief 3-2 lead in the match when senior Raian Luchici defeated Somdev Devvarman, the nation's No. 9-ranked singles player, 6-2, 7-6 at the No. 1 flight. Luchici overcame a 6-3 deficit in the second-set tiebreaker to give UNC its first lead of the match at 3-2. After trailing 6-3 in the tiebreaker, Luchici came back to win five successive points. Devvarmann was the second top 10-ranked player Luchichi defeated in three days after beating No. 4-ranked Ludovic Walter of Duke Wednesday in straight sets in Carolina's 4-3 loss to the Blue Devils in Durham. Devvarmann marked the eighth top 25-ranked player that Luchici has defeated in the last two years.
"Raian Luchici has had one of the most remarkable weeks I've seen one of our singles players have in a long time," says coach Paul. "This week he had straight set victories over the No. 4 and No. 9 ranked players in the country."
The match became tied again at 3-3 when No. 67-ranked Rylan Rizza of the Cavs defeated UNC's Brad Pomeroy in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Rizza saved three break points in the 11th game of the third set before he broke Pomeroy at 6-5 to tie the team score at 3-3.
At the No. 5 singles match, which clinched the match, neither player held serve during the first 10 games of the final set. Each game of the deciding set was filled with long baseline rallies. Miklo served for the match at 5-4 but Carlotti broke his Virginia opponent and then held serve to go up 6-5. After Miklo forced the tiebreaker by holding his serve, Carlotti seized what appeared to be a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker but he was overruled on the eighth point and Miklo won that point and the next to pull within 5-4 in the tiebreaker. On the key 10th point of the tiebreaker, the two players staged a marathon point which featured 45 hits of the ball before Carlotti claimed the point. Carlotti then clinched the match on the succeeding point. The match between Carlotti and Miklo lasted over four hours.
The match maked the second meeting in the last three years where both teams came in ranked in the No. 20 in the nation. A No. 18-ranked UNC squad downed No. 12-rated Virginia in the 2004 regular-season match played in Charlottesville, Va. Carolina has now defeated Virginia in five of the last six meetings between the two squads.
The Tar Heels close out their regular season at home Sunday when UNC plays host to No. 57 Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
"All of our seniors played well today and Sunday should be a special senior recognition for them at Cone-Kenfield. In addition to Raian, both Aly Mandour and Derek Porter stepped up with big wins for us and Brad Pomeroy fought to the very end against a great player."
No. 12 North Carolina 4, No. 11 Virginia 3
Doubles (pro sets, team winning at least two of three matches earns one team point)
No. 1 #27 Nick Meythaler / Rylan Rizza (VA) d. #6 Raian Luchici / Brad Pomeroy (NC), 8-4
No. 2 Somdev Devvarmann / Treat Huey (VA) d. Lenny Gullan / David Stone (NC), 8-4
No. 3 Darrin Cohen / Doug Stewart (VA) d. Sebastian Guejman / Derek Porter (NC), 9-8 (7-4)
(Virginia claims doubles point to lead match 1-0)
Singles (best of three sets)
No. 1 #18 Raian Luchici (NC) d. #9 Somdev Devvarmann (VA), 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
No. 2 #67 Rylan Rizza (VA) d. Derek Pomeroy (NC), 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
No. 3 Derek Porter (NC) d. #91 Doug Stewart (VA), 7-5, 6-1
No. 4 #53 Treat Huey (VA) d. Sebastien Guejman (NC), 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 Benjamin Carlotti (NC) d. Marko Miklo (VA), 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 6 Aly Mandour (NC) d. Darrin Cohen (VA), 6-4, 7-5
Records: Virginia 18-7, ACC 8-2; North Carolina 22-3, ACC 7-3
Players Mentioned
